Sponsored message
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
NPR News

How Do You Make A Virtual Choir?

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.

Listen 9:42

Part 6 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Power Of Crowds.

About Eric Whitacre's TEDTalk

Composed and conducted by Eric Whitacre, "Lux Aurumque" merges hundreds of tracks individually recorded and posted to YouTube. The final product incorporates 185 voices from 12 countries to form a "virtual choir" that spanned the globe. The video received over a million views on YouTube in just 2 months. The final result is an illustration of how technology can connect us.

About Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre began his career singing in his college choir with no previous musical experience. By 21, he had completed his first concert work, Go, Lovely Rose, and soon advanced to Julliard where he studied under Oscar-winning composer John Corigliano. Today, his 44 published concert pieces have sold over a million copies, making him one of the most performed composers of his generation. His album Cloudburst and Other Choral Works earned him a Grammy nomination in 2007.

Most recently, Whitacre has been noticed for his cutting-edge work, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings. The musical, which combined electronica with choral and operatic traditions, earned him the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award. It received 10 nominations at the 2007 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards and performed to a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall in 2010. His first album as both composer and conductor, Light & Gold, won a Grammy in 2012, and became the No. 1 classical album in the US and UK charts within a week of release.

Sponsored message

Watch a video of Eric Whitacre's "virtual choir" project below.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.

Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.

If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.

Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today

A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right