"Whitacre is that rare thing, a modern composer who is both popular and original"
- The Daily Telegraph, London

Eric has inspired millions as composer, conductor, innovator, broadcaster and charismatic public speaker. His compositions rank among the most popular and frequently performed of the early 21st century, their reach broadened since 2010 by the extraordinary success of his online Virtual Choir project. Light & Gold, his first album as composer and conductor, won the 2012 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Recording and instantly topped the US and UK classical album charts.

Born in Nevada, he discovered a passion for choral music while studying at UNLV and he began composing soon after. He went on to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York under John Corigliano. Many of his choral compositions, Cloudburst, Lux Aurumque and Sleep among them, have entered the standard choral repertoire and his orchestral music has been performed by some of the world’s most distinguished orchestras both sides of the Atlantic. Eric is currently Composer-in-Residence at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, UK.

A distinguished speaker, Eric has been invited to address the UN Leaders Programme, give the closing plenary at Davos World Economic Forum and to speak for UNICEF and Google among others. He has appeared twice on the main stage at the global TED conference in Long Beach CA, earning standing ovations on both occasions. Recent Virtual Choir projects include ‘Glow’ written for the Winter Dreams holiday show at Disneyland© Adventure California and the Virtual Youth Choir, in association with UNICEF, which premiered at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Broadcast live to 119 countries worldwide, Eric made his iTunes Festival debut with his professional choir in 2014, inviting multi award-winning composer and conductor Hans Zimmer to join him on stage. The performance was consequently released as a live album. Eric returned to the Minnesota Orchestra for a second residency in 2015 culminating in three performances at Orchestra Hall.


MATTHEW CURTIS, tenor, recently performed with the Grammy award-winning Chanticleer, where he held the position of Assistant Music Director. He also sang with the internationally acclaimed Rose Ensemble in 2009 and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale for one summer in 2009. Matthew began singing choral music at age 7 with the La Crosse Boychoir and sang with the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman Gallery Singers for nine years beginning in 1999.

A Wisconsin native, he received his bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education as a Liberace Scholar from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 2008. He continued studying for a year in the graduate school at the University of Minnesota focusing on opera.

Matthew’s solo performances include light, lyric tenor roles. Matthew played the role of Steva in Janacek’s Jenůfa and the lead tenor role of Male Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at the University of Minnesota. Viterbo University roles included Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Monsieur Vogelsang (Der Schauspieldirektor), and Policeman Chorus (Pirates of Penzance). Past oratorio performances include Messiah and The Creation.

Matthew has won numerous awards in his young career. He won an Encouragement Award at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Iowa district. In his seven years competing at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Wisconsin State Chapter Student auditions, he appeared as a finalist all seven times including four first place awards and two second place awards. He also became a Liberace Scholar in 2006 from the Liberace Foundation for excellence in academics and performance.

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