Eric Whitacre

I first met Mason Bates when were both students at The Juilliard School. He was an incredibly friendly, incredibly talented guy, and I really dug the few pieces of his I got to hear back then.

Since that time Mason has become a superstar, not just as a ‘concert’ composer (he was recently named Composer in Residence for the Chicago Symphony) but as a DJ as well. He’s fusing these two genres together in very fresh and surprising ways; every time I’ve seen one of his works performed live the audience just goes nuts.

Here’s a nice video about Mason and his very interesting background:

And here he is performing one of his newer works with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra: