BRAVO! Eric Whitacre v2

BRAVO! PROFESSIONAL PERFORMING ARTS AT BYU presents

AN EVENING WITH

Eric Whitacre Featuring the BYU Choirs

Professional Performing Arts at BYU March 15, 2022 #BYUBravoSeries Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram by following @byuarts!

WELCOME BACK! If there is one thing that has been made abundantly clear after the last year and a half, it’s that together is a great place to be. We are delighted to welcome you back to our venues and hope you are ready for what promises to be a wonderful season.

As I reflect on the pause the BRAVO! series took this last ġ˶ĂǕȁÛČǹĆȁÙ¶ĂÇȁÔõĂȁîËȁČõȁÿđČȁîġȁŭïÕËĂȁõïȁČÙËȁČÙÛïÕȁČÙ¶Čȁ I missed most. I missed the energy that patrons and performers bring to our halls, I missed hearing the last note of a concerto hanging in the air, I missed the boundless creativity of theatrical performers, and I missed the moments of introspection that I seem to attain best when being truly inspired by the wonders of a live performance. &ȁÙõÿËȁġõđȁěÛèèȁŭïÇȁĆõîËČÙÛïÕȁÛïȁ¶ȁÿËĂÔõĂî¶ïÂËȁÛïȁČÙËȁ BRAVO! series that will move you, inspire you, or leave you thinking more deeply than before.

Thank you for being here and for your support. Of all the places you could be tonight, we are glad you chose to spend an evening with us.

Enjoy,

Bridget Benton BRAVO! Series Producer

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CONTENTS ARTIST BIOGRAPHY pg. 6 Program pg. 8 BYU College OF fine arts and Communications pG.10

All photos by Marc Royce BRAVO! 3

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Professional Performing Arts at BYU presents

AN EVENING WITH

Eric Whitacre Featuring the BYU Choirs BYU SINGERS Andrew Crane, conductor BYU CONCERT CHOIR Brent Wells, conductor BYU WOMEN’S CHORUS Sonja Poulter, conductor BYU MEN’S CHORUS Brent Wells, conductor

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 7:30 p.m. de Jong Concert Hall Franklin S. Harris Fine Arts Center Wearing of masks is optional but strongly encouraged.

Please silence all mobile phones and electronic devices.

Photography, video and/or audio recording, and texting are forbidden during the performance.

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ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Grammy Award–winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre is among today’s most popular musicians.

His works are programmed worldwide, and his groundbreaking Virtual Choirs have united singers from more than 145 countries. Born in Nevada in 1970, Eric is a graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School of Music (New York). He completed his second and final term as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2020 following five years as Composer in Residence at the University of Cambridge (UK). In 2021, Eric was named a Yamaha Artist.

His compositions have been widely recorded, and his debut album as a conductor on Universal, Light and Gold, went straight to the top of the charts, earning him a Grammy. As a guest conductor he has drawn capacity audiences to concerts with many of the world’s leading orchestras and choirs in venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), the Royal Albert Hall, and Buckingham Palace (London).

Insatiably curious and a lover of all types of music, Eric has worked with legendary Hollywood composers Hans Zimmer, John Powell, and Jeff Beal as well as British pop icons Laura Mvula, Imogen Heap, and Annie Lennox.

Major classical commissions have been written for the BBC Proms, Minnesota Orchestra, Rundfunkchor Berlin, The Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer, Cincinnati Pops, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, National Children’s Chorus of America, and The King’s Singers.

In 2018 his composition for symphony orchestra and chorus, Deep Field, became the foundation for a collaboration with NASA, the Space Telescope Science Institute, Music Productions, and 59 Productions.

The film was premiered at Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral, Florida) and has been seen at arts and science festivals across the world. Deep Field has been performed in concert on several continents, and with simultaneous film projection by the New World Symphony, New World Center (Miami), Brussels Philharmonic, Flagey (Brussels), Bergen Philharmonic,

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and Grieghallen (Bergen), among other great orchestras. His long-form work for choir, cello, and piano, The Sacred Veil, is a profound meditation on love, life, and loss. It was premiered by the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2019, conducted by the composer, and will be released on Signum Records in 2020.

Widely considered to be the pioneer of Virtual Choirs, Eric created his first project as an experiment in social media and digital technology. Virtual Choir 1: “Lux Aurumque” was published in 2010 and featured 185 singers from 12 countries.

Ten years on in 2020, Virtual Choir 6: “Sing Gently”—written for the Virtual Choir during the global pandemic that shook the world, COVID-19—featured 17,562 singers from 129 countries. Previous Virtual Choir projects include “Glow,” written for the Winter Dreams holiday show at Disneyland© Adventure Park, California, and the Virtual Youth Choir, a major fundraiser for UNICEF. To date, the Virtual Choirs have registered over 60 million views and have been seen on global TV. A charismatic speaker, Eric Whitacre has given keynote addresses for many Fortune 500 companies, in education and global institutions from Apple and Google to the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Speaker’s Program. His mainstage talks at the influential TED conference in Long Beach, CA, received standing ovations.

His collaboration with Spitfire Audio resulted in a trailblazing vocal sample library, became an instant best seller, and is used by composers the world over. In 2021, Eric was named a Yamaha Artist and launched his Virtual School with its first course: The Beautiful Mess: Masterclass in Composition and Creativity.

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PROGRAM Eric Whitacre, composer and conductor PROGRAM Concert Choir Eric Whitacre, composer and conductor Cloudburst

Concert P R Wong, O G RChoir AM Ariel piano Eric Whitacre, composer and conductor

A Boy and a Girl Cloudburst Ariel Wong, piano Concert Choir A Boy and a Girl Cloudburst Sing A BoyGently and a Girl Lux SingAurumque Gently Lux Aurumque Sing Gently

Men’s Chorus Ariel Wong, piano

Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz Translation by Muriel Rukeyser Octavio Paz Translation by Octavio Paz Muriel Rukeyser

Eric Whitacre Octavio Paz Translation by Muriel Rukeyser Edward Esch Eric Whitacre CJ Madsen, piano Translation by Charles Anthony Silvestri Men’s Chorus Edward Esch Translation by Charles Anthony Silvestri Eric Whitacre Women’s Chorus CJ Madsen, piano Men’s Chorus CJ Madsen, piano

TheAurumque Seal Lullaby Lux

Rudyard EdwardKipling Esch Women’s Chorus Avery Gunnell, piano Translation by Charles Anthony Silvestri

She Weeps over The Seal Lullaby Rahoon

JamesKipling Joyce Rudyard

She Weeps over Rahoon The Seal Lullaby She Weeps over Rahoon

Avery Gunnell, piano Women’s Chorus Kayla Farnsworth, English horn Avery Gunnell, piano Gunnell,English piano horn KaylaAvery Farnsworth, Avery Gunnell, piano

Kayla Farnsworth, English horn Avery Gunnell, piano 8 BRAVO!

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James Joyce Rudyard Kipling

James Joyce

PROGRAM Eric Whitacre, composer and conductor BYU Singers i carry your heart

e. e. cummings

Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine

Charles Anthony Silvestri

Combined Choirs Water Night Sleep

Octavio Paz Translation by Muriel Rukeyser Charles Anthony Silvestri

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BYU COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Dean Ed Adams

Associate Dean Amy Petersen Jensen

Associate Dean Jeremy Grimshaw

Associate Dean Rory Scanlon

Assistant Dean Bridget Rosella Benton

Assistant Dean Melinda Semadeni

Assistant Dean Thaylene Rogers

Assistant Dean Don Powell

BRAVO! ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Dean Ed Adams Executive Producer Amy Petersen Jensen Producer Bridget Rosella Benton Department Of Dance Curt Holman Department of Theatre & Media Arts Megan Sanborn Jones School of Music Diane Reich

Lighting Operations Manager Mark Ohran

Marketing Services Manager Rex Kocherhans

Assistant Lighting Operations Manager Kenzie Wise

Program Designer Jessi Blackham

Audio Operations Manager Troy Streeter Projection Operations Manager Kevin Anthony Audio Production Specialist Taylor Glad Business Manager Brian Olson

BYU ARTS PRODUCTION RESOURCE AND OPERATIONS GROUP

Assistant Business Manager Kathy Heckel

Director Bridget Rosella Benton

SUPPORT STAFF

Assistant Director Troy Streeter Production Manager/ Technical Director Jared Patching

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Travel Peter Esera Assistants to Producer Lily Moore Abi Urton Dayne Joyner Courtney Lawson Jessie Moore

Poster Designer Ty Davis Copywriter Alie Carter Assistant Dean Melinda Semadeni Senior Writer Alyssa Anderson Writer Capri Baker Social Media Specialist Savanna Shiman Web Developer Isaac Smith Photographer Dylan Carter

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@BYUArts