ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Eric Whitacre - Composer, conductor
After creating and conducting a worldwide virtual choir on YouTube, Eric Whitacre is now touring with an astonishing live choir.

Why you should listen

Eric Whitacre began his music career singing in his college choir; by 21, he had written his first concert work, Go, Lovely Rose, and advanced to Juilliard, where he studied under John Corigliano. Today, he has published more than four dozen choral works, conducted in some of the most esteemed halls in the world, and featured on dozens of recordings. His album Cloudburst and Other Choral Works earned him a Grammy nomination in 2007, as did his Decca debut Light & Gold, while his new album, Water Night, debuted at #1 in US iTunes classical charts.

You may know him, too, as the creator and conductor of the virtual choir, a network of YouTube-connected singers whose voices blend together online to become true magic. And he's now touring with the Eric Whitacre Signers, a 28-voice choir (yes, they're all in the same room).

More profile about the speaker
Eric Whitacre | Speaker | TED.com
TED2013

Eric Whitacre: Virtual Choir Live

EricWhitacre: Un cor virtual en directe

Filmed:
1,152,617 views

El compositor i director d'orquestra Eric Whitacre ha inspirat millions de persones organitzant cors virtuals amb cantants de molts països reunits en vídeo. Ara, per primera vegada, crea l'experiència en temps real, amb 32 cantants de tot el mon que s'uneixen a través de Skype a un cor de l'escenari (format per tres univesitats locals) per a una interpretació èpica del 'Cloudburst' de Whitacre basat en un poema d'Octavio Paz.
- Composer, conductor
After creating and conducting a worldwide virtual choir on YouTube, Eric Whitacre is now touring with an astonishing live choir. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
In 1991 I had
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En 1991 vaig viure
00:14
maybe the mostla majoria profoundprofund and transformativetransformador
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l'experiència potser més profunda
00:17
experienceexperiència of my life.
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i transformadora de la meva vida.
00:18
I was in the thirdtercer yearcurs of my seven-yearset anys undergraduategrau degreegrau.
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Era el meu tercer any
de set a la universitat.
00:23
I tookva prendre a coupleparella victoryvictòria lapsvoltes in there.
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Vaig fer un parell d'anys de postgrau.
00:25
And I was on a collegeuniversitat choircor tourgira up in NorthernNord CaliforniaCalifòrnia,
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Un cop, de gira amb el cor universitari
al nord de Califòrnia
00:29
and we had stoppeds'ha aturat for the day after all day on the busautobús,
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ens vam aturar després
de tot el dia en autocar
00:32
and we were relaxingrelaxant nextPròxim to this beautifulbonic
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i vam descansar a la vora d'un llac
00:34
idyllicidíl·lic lakellac in the mountainsmuntanyes.
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preciós i idíl·lic a la muntanya.
00:36
And there were cricketsgrills and birdsocells and frogsgranotes makingelaboració noisesoroll,
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Se sentien grills i ocells i granotes
00:41
and as we satassegut there, over the mountainsmuntanyes comingarribant in
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i, mentre seiem allà, de darrere
de les muntanyes
00:43
from the northnord were these StevenSteven SpielbergianSpielbergian cloudsnúvols
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apareixien uns núvols Spielbergians
00:46
rollingrodant towardcap a us,
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que s'acostaven pel nord.
00:48
and as the cloudsnúvols got about halfwaya mig camí over the valleyvall,
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I quan els núvols eren quasi
a sobre de la vall,
00:50
so help me God, everycada singlesolter animalanimal in that placelloc
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Déu ens guardi, tots i cadascun dels animals
00:55
stoppeds'ha aturat makingelaboració noisesoroll at the samemateix time.
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es van quedar en silenci a la vegada.
00:57
(WhooshBrunzit) This electricelèctric hushHush, as if they could sensesentit what was about to happenpassar.
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Fiu... Un silenci elèctric, com si poguessin sentir
el que estava a punt de passar.
01:02
And then the cloudsnúvols cameva venir over us, and then,
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Llavors els núvols
se'ns van posar al damunt
01:04
boomboom! This massivemassiu thunderclapTro, and sheetsfulls of rainpluja.
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i bum! Un tro ensordidor i cortines de pluja.
01:09
It was just extraordinaryextraordinari, and when I cameva venir back home
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Va ser impressionant.
Quan vaig tornar a casa
01:12
I foundtrobat a poempoema by the MexicanMexicà poetpoeta OctavioOctavio PazPaz,
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vaig trobar un poema
del poeta mexicà Octavio Paz
01:15
and decidedva decidir to setconjunt it to musicmúsica,
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i vaig decidir posar-li música
01:17
a piecepeça for choircor calledanomenat "CloudburstCloudburst,"
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en una peça per a un cor
titulada 'Cloudburst',
01:20
whichquin is the piecepeça that we'll performrealitzar for you in just a momentmoment.
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que és la peça que us interpretarem
d'aquí a uns moments.
01:23
Now fastràpid forwardendavant to just threetres yearsanys agofa.
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Avancem fins a fa només tres anys
01:27
(MusicMúsica) And we releasedalliberat to YouTubeYouTube this,
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(música) quan vam presentar a YouTube
01:31
the VirtualVirtual ChoirCor ProjectProjecte,
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el Virtual Choir Project
[projecte cor virtual]
01:33
185 singerscantants from 12 differentdiferent countriespaïsos.
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amb 185 cantants de 12 països diferents.
01:36
You can see my little videovideo there conductingrealitzant these people,
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Aquí teniu un vídeo
en què dirigeixo aquesta gent
01:40
alonesol in theirels seus dormdormitori roomshabitacions
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sols a la seva habitació
01:41
or in theirels seus livingvivent roomshabitacions at home.
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o a la sala d'estar.
01:44
Two yearsanys agofa, on this very stageetapa, we premieredes va estrenar
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Fa dos anys, en aquest
mateix escenari, vam presentar
01:48
VirtualVirtual ChoirCor 2,
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el Virtual Choir 2,
01:51
2,052 singerscantants from 58 differentdiferent countriespaïsos,
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amb 2.052 cantants
de 58 països diferents,
01:56
this time performingrealitzant a piecepeça that I had writtenescrit calledanomenat "SleepSon."
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aquest cop amb una peça
meva titulada 'Sleep'.
01:59
And then just last springprimavera we releasedalliberat VirtualVirtual ChoirCor 3,
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I la passada primavera
vam presentar el Virtual Choir 3,
02:04
"WaterL'aigua Night," anotherun altre piecepeça that I had writtenescrit,
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'Water Night',
una altra peça meva,
02:07
this time nearlygairebé 4,000 singerscantants from 73 differentdiferent countriespaïsos.
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aquest cop amb quasi 4.000 cantants
de 73 països diferents.
02:13
(MusicMúsica)
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(Música)
02:18
And when I was speakingparlant to ChrisChris about the futurefutur
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Quan parlava amb el Chris sobre el futur
02:21
of VirtualVirtual ChoirCor and where we mightpotser be ablecapaç to take this,
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del Virtual Choir i fins a on podríem arribar,
02:24
he challengeddesafiat me to pushempènyer the technologytecnologia as farlluny as we possiblypossiblement could.
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em va desafiar a portar
la tecnologia fins al límit.
02:28
Could we do this all in realreal time?
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Podríem fer-ho en temps real?
02:31
Could we have people singingcantant togetherjunts in realreal time?
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Podríem tenir gent cantant alhora
en temps real?
02:34
And with the help of SkypeSkype,
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I amb l'ajuda de Skype,
02:35
that is what we are going to attemptintent todayavui.
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és el que intentarem fer avui.
02:38
Now, we'll performrealitzar "CloudburstCloudburst" for you.
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Interpretarem 'Cloudburst'.
02:40
The first halfla meitat will be performedrealitzat by the liveen directe singerscantants here on stageetapa.
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La primera meitat serà interpretada
pels cantants d'aquí l'escenari.
02:43
I'm joinedunit by singerscantants from CalCal StateEstat Long BeachPlatja,
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M'acompanyen cantants
de les universitats Long Beach
02:45
CalCal StateEstat FullertonFullerton and RiversideRiverside CommunityComunitat CollegeUniversitat,
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i Fullerton de Califòrnia
i de l'institut Riverside,
02:49
some of the bestmillor amateuramateur choirscors in the countrypaís, and —
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alguns els millors cors
no professionals del país, i…
02:52
(ApplauseAplaudiments) --
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(Aplaudiments)
02:59
and in the secondsegon halfla meitat of the piecepeça,
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i en la segona part de la peça,
03:01
the virtualvirtual choircor will joinunir-se us, 30 differentdiferent singerscantants
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el cor virtual se'ns unirà, 30 cantants
03:04
from 30 differentdiferent countriespaïsos.
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de 30 països diferents.
03:06
Now, we'vetenim pushedempès the technologytecnologia as farlluny as it can go,
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Hem portat la tecnologia fins al límit;
03:09
but there's still lessmenys than a secondsegon of latencylatència,
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hi ha menys d'un segon de retard,
03:12
but in musicalmusical termstermes, that's a lifetimetota una vida.
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però en música és tota una vida.
03:14
We dealacord in millisecondsmil·lisegons.
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Nosaltres treballem amb milisegons.
03:15
So what I've donefet is, I've adaptedadaptat "CloudburstCloudburst"
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Per això he adaptat 'Cloudburst'
03:18
so that it embracesabraça the latencylatència
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perquè inclogui el retard
03:20
and the performersartistes intèrprets o executants singcantar into the latencylatència
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i els intèrprets cantin en retard
03:23
insteaden canvi of tryingintentant to be exactlyexactament togetherjunts.
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en comptes d'intentar encaixar del tot.
03:25
So with deepprofund humilityhumilitat, and for your approvall'aprovació,
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Així que, amb molta humilitat
i esperant el vostre vistiplau,
03:29
we presentpresent "CloudburstCloudburst."
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presentem 'Cloudburst'.
03:31
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
03:36
(PianoPiano)
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(Piano)
03:42
[The rainpluja ...]
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La pluja…
03:53
[EyesUlls of shadow-waterombra-aigua]
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Ulls d'aigua d'ombra,
03:58
[eyesulls of well-waterbé l'aigua]
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ulls d'aigua de pou,
04:16
[eyesulls of dream-watersomni-aigua.]
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ulls d'aigua de somni.
04:27
[BlueBlau sunssols, greenverd whirlwindsremolins,]
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Sols blaus, verds remolins,
04:45
[birdbeaksbirdbeaks of lightllum peckingpicotejant openobert]
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becs de llum que obren astres
04:53
[pomegranatemagrana starsestrelles.]
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com magranes.
05:03
[But tell me, burntcremat earthterra, is there no wateraigua?]
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Digues, terra cremada, no hi ha aigua?
05:22
[Only bloodsang, only dustpols,]
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hi ha només sang, només hi ha pols,
05:30
[only nakednu footstepspassos on the thornsespines?]
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només petjades de peus descalços
sobre l'espina?
05:46
[The rainpluja awakenses desperta...]
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La pluja desperta...
06:04
[We musthaver de sleepdormir with openobert eyesulls,]
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S'he de dormir amb els ulls oberts,
06:07
[we musthaver de dreamsomiar with our handsmans,]
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s'ha de somiar amb les mans,
06:20
[we musthaver de dreamsomiar the dreamssomnis of a riverriu seekingbuscant its coursecurs,]
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somiem somnis actius
de riu buscant el seu curs,
06:25
[of the sunsol dreamingsomiant its worldsmons.]
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somnis de sol somiant els seus mons,
06:39
[We musthaver de dreamsomiar alouden veu alta,]
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s'ha de somiar en veu alta,
07:00
[we musthaver de singcantar tillfins the songcançó putsposa forthendavant rootsarrels,]
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s'ha de cantar fins que
el cant posi arrels,
07:27
[trunktronc, branchesbranques, birdsocells, starsestrelles.]
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tronc, branques, ocells, astres,
07:57
[We musthaver de find the lostperdut wordparaula,]
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s'ha de desenterrar la paraula perduda,
08:12
[and rememberrecorda what the bloodsang,]
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recordar el que diuen de la sang
08:20
[the tidesmarees, the earthterra, and the bodycos say,]
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i la marea, la terra i el cos,
08:46
[and returntornada to the pointpunt of departuresortida...]
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tornar al punt de partida...
09:04
(MusicMúsica)
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(Música)
11:34
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
11:49
["CloudburstCloudburst" OctavioOctavio PazPaz][translationtraducció by LysanderLisandre KempKemp, adaptedadaptat by EricEric WhitacreWhitacre]
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['Cloudburst', d'Octavio Paz;
adaptació d'Eric Whitacre]
11:51
EricEric WhitacreWhitacre: BethBeth. AnnabelleAnnabelle, where are you? JacobJacob.
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Beth, Annabelle, on sou? Jacob.
11:58
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
12:20
Thank you.
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Gràcies.
Translated by Fran Ontanaya
Reviewed by Òscar Aznar Alemany

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Eric Whitacre - Composer, conductor
After creating and conducting a worldwide virtual choir on YouTube, Eric Whitacre is now touring with an astonishing live choir.

Why you should listen

Eric Whitacre began his music career singing in his college choir; by 21, he had written his first concert work, Go, Lovely Rose, and advanced to Juilliard, where he studied under John Corigliano. Today, he has published more than four dozen choral works, conducted in some of the most esteemed halls in the world, and featured on dozens of recordings. His album Cloudburst and Other Choral Works earned him a Grammy nomination in 2007, as did his Decca debut Light & Gold, while his new album, Water Night, debuted at #1 in US iTunes classical charts.

You may know him, too, as the creator and conductor of the virtual choir, a network of YouTube-connected singers whose voices blend together online to become true magic. And he's now touring with the Eric Whitacre Signers, a 28-voice choir (yes, they're all in the same room).

More profile about the speaker
Eric Whitacre | Speaker | TED.com