Press: Limelight, CutCommon, The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Classic / Drawing Room, 2MBS Fine Music Sydney, RNZ
Round-up of local press ahead of Eric’s tour to Australia and New Zealand next month.
Eric talks to Jo Litson from Limelight Magazine, Australia about the story behind The Sacred Veil and how the highly personal choral work has helped others grieve.
Read the full interview in this month’s Limelight Magazine with a subscription.
Eric speaks to Jeffrey Palmer from CutCommon Magazine about his new choral work, The Sacred Veil, the story behind the work and what it means to him to bring this work to the Sydney Opera House for the first time.
I love Australia. I have such a warm spot in my heart for it. And to be coming back already is a joy and a thrill, but then to be doing this piece, which means so, so, so much to me — and to be doing it with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, which my experience last time was just that these are incredibly soulful singers. So I know already going in that they’re going to bring every ounce of themselves to the performance. I’m deeply humbled and honored by the chance to present this.
Read the full article on the CutCommon website.
The Sydney Morning Herald features The Sacred Veil in their latest article.
The “thin place” is a Celtic Christian concept but most of us know the feeling. It’s a place on Earth that feels spookily close to (let’s call it) Heaven. We typically feel it in places of worship: the cathedral, the mosque, the wat, the temple, Stonehenge, Uluru, the Grand Canyon, the local graveyard … but it can take us by surprise too.
American poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (Tony to his friends) adds hospital rooms to the list. “They’re numinous places,” he says. “Places strong in the Force, as Yoda would say.” After he lost his wife, Julie, to cancer in 2005, he began to dwell on a more permanent, ever-present thin place, an invisible veil through which we can almost touch the other side.
His friend Eric Whitacre, the renowned American choral composer, found this thin place on his piano. Middle C. Just a couple of notes south of dead centre on the keyboard. “Can you hear that?” he asks, as he plays a soft, strangely transporting four-note phrase straddling either side. “Tony was talking about these holy places and that connected with me deeply,” he says of their latest collaboration, a choral work of 12 movements called The Sacred Veil.
Read the full article on The Sydney Morning Herald’s website
Eric joins ABC Classic’s latest episode to discuss why choral music connects us.
“It’s very rare these days to get something that is genuinely authentic. Everything is sold and packaged and loud… The great gift of singing is that we also sing beautiful poetry and texts. Really, philosophy.. and we don’t get this any more in our daily lives.”
Listen to the full episode on ABC Classic’s website
Eric speaks to Andy Park of ABC Drawing Room about his path to choral music and his new choral work The Sacred Veil.
Listen to the full episode on ABC Drawing Room Website
Eric joins Tamara-Anna Cislowska for a live duet improvising Eric’s new work ‘The Sacred Veil’ on the ABC Classic Duet radio show.
Eric Whitacre is on a mission to inspire a love of choral music across the world that connects people on a deeper level.
Listen to the full episode on ABC Classic Duet website
Eric speaks to Simon Moore of 2MBS Fine Music Sydney on his latest episode of ‘In Conversation’. Eric talks about his new choral work, The Sacred Veil, the upcoming performance on September 17 at the Sydney Opera House, insights into his composing, the Virtual Choirs projects, and pieces which have inspired him over the years.
Listen to the full podcast on Apple and Spotify
Eric also joins Julie Simons on 2MBS Fine Music Sydney Breakfast show to talk about The Sacred Veil and the performance at The Sydney Opera House on September 17.
Listen to the full show on Fine Music Breakfast
Eric joins Katherine Ryan on Radio New Zealand’s Noon To Noon to talk about The Sacred Veil performances in New Zealand this week
Listen to the full show on Radio New Zealand
The Sacred Veil will be performed at the Alexander Theatre in Melbourne on September 6,7, and 8 and at the Sydney Opera House on September 17 2022. Followed by New New Zealand performances in Auckland on September 24 and Wellington on September 25th.