BBC Radio's In The Studio Will Present 'Eric Whitacre - Creating the Virtual Choir'

BBC will present In The Studio: Eric Whitacre - Creating the Virtual Choir, as part of BBC World Service, Tuesday 28 July 1130-1200 BST.

As the global pandemic of Covid-19 has swept the world, we've become used to seeing musicians in lockdown presenting videos of virtual performances. But for the American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre, the idea of a virtual choir is nothing new because he pioneered the concept over 10 years ago. Inspired by a video sent to him by a singer performing his music, Eric created a choir consisting entirely of "virtual" performers . The first choir numbered 185 singers and performed his piece Lux Aurumque on a video which has been watched by 6.4 million people.

Since then Eric has created many other virtual choir initiatives which have grown to involve thousands of singers from different countries. The choir videos have featured as installations and as part of the 2012 Olympics and the Davos World Economic Forum.

Now Eric is working on his largest Virtual Choir project to date, which will premiere on YouTube on July 19th. The singers will give the world premiere of his new piece 'Sing Gently' and 17,572 voices will feature from 129 countries.

Eric talks to Emma Kingsley about creating this latest project, the inspirations for his other compositions and how his early dreams of becoming a pop star changed through an encounter with the Mozart Requiem.

Produced by Emma Kingsley for the BBC World Service.

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