Thomas May writes about The Sacred Veil
Ahead of the premiere of Eric’s new work – The Sacred Veil – Thomas May has interviewed poet Charles Anthony Silvestri about the collaborative creative process.
One of his first reactions before embarking on the larger-scale work, recalls Silvestri, was anxiety as to whether he would be able to go into “this deep and dark place.” The unnamed beloved here is the poet’s wife Julie, who had died of cancer years before he began the project with Whitacre. “By itself, ‘You Rise, I Fall’ was devastating for me to write. Julie had been dead for a dozen years, and I found myself right back there. It was like picking the scab off and again feeling the fresh wound.” At the same time, giving himself permission to write these texts “allowed me to revisit my grief in a very powerful way. In a way, I understood I hadn’t fully grieved, because I hadn’t processed it in art.”
Read the full article on the LA Master Chorale website.