Eric Whitacre

Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is a Grammy-winning American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music.

Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada, to Ross and Roxanne Whitacre.

He studied piano intermittently as a child and joined a junior high marching band under band leader Jim Burnett.

Later Whitacre played a synthesizer in a techno-pop band, dreaming of being a rock star.

Although he initially resisted joining choir while attending college, Whitacre was eventually convinced.

He described his own experience with his first choral rehearsal as a turning point in his life, saying, "In my entire life I had seen in black and white, and suddenly everything was in shocking Technicolor. It was the most transformative experience I've ever had—in that single moment, hearing dissonance and harmony, and people singing...".

Though he was unable to read music at the time, Whitacre began his full musical training while he was an undergraduate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

He eventually earned a bachelor's degree in Music Composition.

Whitacre studied composition with Ukrainian composer Virko Baley and choral conducting with Professor David B. Weiller, completing his bachelor's degree in 1995.

Whitacre credits Weiller with the inspiration that put the young composer on the musical path.

At 21, he wrote his setting of "Go, Lovely Rose" for his college choir and presented the composition as a gift to David Weiller.

Whitacre went on to earn his master's degree in Composition at the Juilliard School, where he studied with John Corigliano and David Diamond.

At the age of 23 he completed his first piece for Wind Orchestra, "Ghost Train", which has now been recorded more than 40 times.

Tom Leslie contributed to his interest in writing for wind ensembles.

While at Juilliard he met his future wife, soprano Hila Plitmann, and two of his closest friends, composers Steven Bryant and Jonathan Newman.

He lived in Nevada until he was 25.

He graduated in 1997 and moved to Los Angeles, and following the success of "Ghost Train" he decided to become a full-time professional composer.

From 1998 to 2017, Whitacre was married to Israeli singer Hila Plitmann.

They have a son together, Esh Edward (b. 2005).

From October to December2010, Whitacre was a visiting Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, during Michaelmas (Autumn) Term.

He composed a piece for the Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and worked with students in masterclasses and workshops.

Around January 25, 2011, Eric Whitacre began working with legendary film composer Hans Zimmer on the music for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Whitacre co-composed the "Mermaid Theme" with Zimmer as well as conducting some of the choral sessions at Abbey Road Studios.

His wife, Hila Plitmann, sang the solo material in the theme, having also invented the language the mermaids were singing in the film, a combination of Latin, Hebrew, and as she says, 'Elvish.' Whitacre enjoyed working with Zimmer, saying that he was a brilliant composer and a generous collaborator.

In 2011, he conducted the winning entries of the Abbey Road 80th Anniversary Anthem Competition, recording the London Symphony Orchestra and the Eric Whitacre Singers, in the Abbey Road Studio1.

Whitacre's Soaring Leap initiative is a dynamic one-day workshop where singers, conductors, and composers read, rehearse and perform several of his works.

From 2011 to 2016, he was Composer in Residence at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.

Whitacre's first album as both composer and conductor on Decca Records, Light& Gold, won a Grammy Award in 2012, and became the No.1 classical album in the US and UK charts within a week of release.

Whitacre's second album, Water Night, was released on Decca in April2012 and featured performances from his professional choir the Eric Whitacre Singers, the London Symphony Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber and Hila Plitmann.

Whitacre later collaborated with Zimmer for the 2016 film, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Whitacre has written for the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Chanticleer, Julian Lloyd Webber and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Tallis Scholars, the King's Singers, Dallas Winds, the Berlin Rundfunkchor, and the Minnesota Orchestra, among others.

His work of music theater, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Harold Arlen Award and the Richard Rodgers Award, and earned 10 nominations at the Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards.

In 2016, Whitacre was appointed artist in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

In July 2017, he co-presented the Eurovision Choir of the Year.

Whitacre married Belgian opera singer Laurence Servaes in Maui, Hawaii, in March 2019.

They have a son together, Julian (b. 2020).

A trademark of Whitacre's pieces is the use of aleatoric and indeterminate sections, as well as unusual score instructions involving, in some cases, hand actions or props.

Critics, however, have described his style as "full of shimmering, shuddering, shifting harmonies that awaken the ear to a contemporary yet accessible voice".

Whitacre's style, similar to Morten Lauridsen's, has also been characterized as "neo-impressionistic".

Whitacre's Virtual Choir projects were inspired by a video sent to him of a young girl named Britlin Losee from Glen Cove, New York, singing one of his choral pieces.