Eric Whitacre

I think I can safely say that Eric Whitacre is one of my daughter's idols. My daughter is complex... many 16 year old girls are. She's searching... she's a rocker, she loves loud metal and can rip, she likes paintball and Halo yet loves videos of small cute animals. She's not a prep, not a scholar really, though she's smart and watches stuff like the BBC's Pride & Prejudice series with me over and over again. As a mom you worry ya know? Where's she gonna end up? How will I get her through it all in tact? Well, my daughter found chorus. The chorus teacher at her high school has some sort of magic touch with these kids. Kids from all walks find a common ground and they excel together. Meredith has fallen in with this mottled pack and adores it. I beam with pride when they sing in their black gowns and pearls. She has gone to searching Youtube for "cool, ancient sounding music" She's showed me videos of choirs from all around the world singing Mozart and Bach in grottos, kyrie's in canyons. Through this she has discovered the music of Eric Whitacre. If you haven't seen his Virtual Choir then I strongly recommend that you do. Here's a talk he did with clips of his choir for TED
Hearing his talk about this project always makes me cry. We've come to adore his music in our house. And I dream that my daughter, who wants to be a rock star, will become a composer... or a rock star composer...