I wanted to be a rock star. I dreamed of it, and that's all I dreamed of. To be more accurate, I wanted to be a pop star. This was in the late '80s. And mostly I wanted to be the fifth member of Depeche Mode or Duran Duran. They wouldn't have me. I didn't read music, but I played synthesizers and drum machines. And I grew up in this little farming town in northern Nevada. And I was certain that's what my life would be.
Es gribēju būt rokzvaigzne. Es par to sapņoju, tas bija vienīgais, par ko biju sapņojis, Precīzāk, es gribēju būt popzvaigzne. Tas bija 80. gadu beigās. Un visvairāk es gribēju būt <i>Depeche Mode</i> vai <i>Duran Duran</i> piektais biedrs. Viņiem mani nevajadzēja. Es nemācēju lasīt notis, bet es spēlēju sintezatoru un bungmašīnu. Un es uzaugu mazā zemnieku pilsētiņā, Nevadas ziemeļos. Un es biju drošs, ka tāda būs arī mana dzīve.
And when I went to college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas when I was 18, I was stunned to find that there was not a Pop Star 101, or even a degree program for that interest. And the choir conductor there knew that I sang and invited me to come and join the choir. And I said, "Yes, I would love to do that. It sounds great." And I left the room and said, "No way." The choir people in my high school were pretty geeky, and there was no way I was going to have anything to do with those people. And about a week later, a friend of mine came to me and said, "Listen, you've got to join choir. At the end of the semester, we're taking a trip to Mexico, all expenses paid. And the soprano section is just full of hot girls." And so I figured for Mexico and babes, I could do just about anything.
Un, kad es 18 gadu vecumā devos uz Nevadas Universitāti, Lasvegasā es bija satriekts, uzzinot, ka tur nebija nekādi popzvaigznes kursi vai pat attiecīgas jomas diploma programma. Un turienes kora diriģents zināja, ka dziedu un uzaicināja mani pievienoties korim. Un es atbildēju „Jā, labprāt. Izklausās labi.” Un es izgāju no istabas un noteicu, „Nekādā gadījumā.” Koristi manā vidusskolā bija diezgan nūģīgi, un es ar šiem cilvēkiem nekādā gadījumā negribēju ielaisties. Un pēc apmēram nedēļas mans draugs pie manis atnāca un teica, „Paklau, tev jāpievienojas korim Mēs semestra beigās dosimies uz Meksiku, visi izdevumi tiks apmaksāti. Soprānu nodaļa ir pilna ar smukām meitenēm.” Un tā es izlēmu, ka Meksikas un meiču dēļ biju gatavs uz tikpat kā jebko.
And I went to my first day in choir, and I sat down with the basses and sort of looked over my shoulder to see what they were doing. They opened their scores, the conductor gave the downbeat, and boom, they launched into the Kyrie from the "Requiem" by Mozart. In my entire life I had seen in black and white, and suddenly everything was in shocking Technicolor. The most transformative experience I've ever had -- in that single moment, hearing dissonance and harmony and people singing, people together, the shared vision. And I felt for the first time in my life that I was part of something bigger than myself. And there were a lot of cute girls in the soprano section, as it turns out.
Un es pirmo dienu aizgāju uz kori un apsēdos pie basiem un palūkojos pāri savam plecam, lai redzētu ko viņi darīja. Viņi atvēra savas partitūras, diriģents sāka diriģēt, un bum, viņi sāka dziedāt „Kyrie” no Mocarta „Rekviēma”. Visu savu dzīvi es biju redzējis tikai melnā vai baltā un pēkšņi viss bija šokējoši krāsains. Mana mūža pārveidojošākā pieredze -- tajā vienā mirklī, dzirdot nesaskaņu un harmoniju un cilvēkus dziedam, cilvēkus kopā, kopīgo vīziju. Un pirmo reizi savā mūžā es jutos kā kaut kā, kas ir lielāks par mani, daļa. Un, kā izrādījās, pie soprāniem patiešām bija daudz smukas meitenes.
I decided to write a piece for choir a couple of years later as a gift to this conductor who had changed my life. I had learned to read music by then, or slowly learning to read music. And that piece was published, and then I wrote another piece, and that got published. And then I started conducting, and I ended up doing my master's degree at the Juilliard School. And I find myself now in the unlikely position of standing in front of all of you as a professional classical composer and conductor.
Pēc pāris gadiem es nolēmu uzrakstīt kora skaņdarbu kā dāvanu diriģentam, kurš bija mainījis manu dzīvi. Tajā laikā es jau biju iemācījies lasīt notis, vai vismaz to palēnām sācis. Un šis skaņdarbs tika publicēts, un tad es sakomponēju vēl vienu un tas arī tika publicēts. Un tad es sāku komponēt, un beigu beigās Džuliarda skolā es ieguvu arī savu maģistra grādu. Un tagad es atrodos neparastā pozīcijā, stāvot jums priekšā kā klasiskās mūzikas diriģēšanas un komponēšanas profesors.
Well a couple of years ago, a friend of mine emailed me a link, a YouTube link, and said, "You have got to see this." And it was this young woman who had posted a fan video to me, singing the soprano line to a piece of mine called "Sleep."
Pirms pāris gadiem kāds draugs man atsūtīja e-pastu ar saiti, YouTube saiti un viņš teica: "Tev tas ir jāredz." Un tur bija šī jaunā sieviete, kura bija ielikusi fanu video, kurā viņa dziedāja mana skaņdarba „Miegs” soprāna partiju.
(Video) Britlin Losee: Hi Mr. Eric Whitacre. My name is Britlin Losee, and this is a video that I'd like to make for you. Here's me singing "Sleep." I'm a little nervous, just to let you know. ♫ If there are noises ♫ ♫ in the night ♫
(Video) Britlina Losē: Sveiki, Ērika Vitakera kungs Mani sauc Britlina Losē, un šis ir video, ko es vēlējos izveidot priekš jums. Es dziedāšu „Miegs”. Esmu nedaudz uztraukusies. ♫ Ja nakts melnumā ♫ ♫ ir trokšņi ♫
Eric Whitacre: I was thunderstruck. Britlin was so innocent and so sweet, and her voice was so pure. And I even loved seeing behind her; I could see the little teddy bear sitting on the piano behind her in her room. Such an intimate video.
Ēriks Vitakers: Es biju satriekts. Britlina bija tik nevainīga un tik jauka un viņas balss bija tik dzidra. Un man pat patika skatīties uz to, kas bija aiz viņas. Aiz viņas es varēju redzēt uz klavierēm sēžam mazu lācīti. Tik intīms video.
And I had this idea: if I could get 50 people to all do this same thing, sing their parts -- soprano, alto, tenor and bass -- wherever they were in the world, post their videos to YouTube, we could cut it all together and create a virtual choir. So I wrote on my blog, "OMG OMG." I actually wrote, "OMG," hopefully for the last time in public ever. (Laughter) And I sent out this call to singers. And I made free the download of the music to a piece that I had written in the year 2000 called "Lux Aurumque," which means "light and gold." And lo and behold, people started uploading their videos.
Un man radās šī ideja: ja es varētu piedabūt 50 cilvēkus, lai viņi visi dara vienu un to pašu, dzied savas daļas -- soprānu, altu, tenoru un basu -- vienalga, kur pasaulē viņi atrodas, ieliek savus video YouTube, mēs varētu salikt to visu kopā un izveidot virtuālu kori. Tā es savā blogā rakstīju: „Ak, Dievs, ak, Dievs”. Es patiešām rakstīju:„ Ak, Dievs”, cerams, ka pēdējo reizi publiski. (Smiekli) Un es to paziņoju dziedātājiem. Un ļāvu par brīvu lejupielādēt mūziku skaņdarbam, kuru es biju sarakstījis 2000. gadā, ko sauca "Lux Aurumque", kas nozīmē "gaisma un zelts". Un pēkšņi ne no kurienes, cilvēki sāki pievienot savus video.
Now I should say, before that, what I did is I posted a conductor track of myself conducting. And it's in complete silence when I filmed it, because I was only hearing the music in my head, imagining the choir that would one day come to be. Afterwards, I played a piano track underneath so that the singers would have something to listen to. And then as the videos started to come in ...
Taču pirms tam tas, ko es izdarīju bija video publicēšana, kur es diriģēju. Un filmējot fonā bija pilnīgs klusums, jo mūzika bija dzirdama vienīgi manā galvā, iedomājoties kori, kas vienudien "sanāktu kopā". Pēc tam es fonā ierakstīju klavieres, lai dziedātājiem dziedot būtu ko klausīties. Un tad cilvēki sāka iesūtīt savus video ...
(Singing) This is Cheryl Ang from Singapore.
(Dzied) Šī ir Čerila Anga no Singapūras.
(Singing) This is Evangelina Etienne
(Dzied) Šī Evangelīna Etjēna.
(Singing) from Massachusetts.
(Dzied) no Masačūsetsas.
(Singing) Stephen Hanson from Sweden.
(Dzied) Stefens Hansons no Zviedrijas.
(Singing) This is Jamal Walker from Dallas, Texas.
(Dzied) Šis ir Džamals Vokers no Dalasas, Teksasas,
(Singing)
(Dzied)
There was even a little soprano solo in the piece, and so I had auditions. And a number of sopranos uploaded their parts. I was told later, and also by lots of singers who were involved in this, that they sometimes recorded 50 or 60 different takes until they got just the right take -- they uploaded it. Here's our winner of the soprano solo. This is Melody Myers from Tennessee. (Singing) I love the little smile she does right over the top of the note -- like, "No problem, everything's fine."
Skaņdarbā bija pat mazs soprāna solo gabaliņš, kuram es rīkoju noklausīšanos. Un pamatīgs skaits soprānu augšupielādēja savus video. Vēlāk no daudziem iesaistītajiem dziedātājiem es uzzināju, ka dažreiz viņi bija spiesti ierakstīt pat 50 vai 60 reizes kamēr viņi nodziedāja tieši tā, kā vajag, un to arī viņi pieteica. Šeit ir mūsu soprānu konkursa uzvarētāja. Šī ir Melodija Maiersa no Tenesī. (Dzied) Man patīk viņas mazais smaids katras nots beigās -- kā, "Nekādu problēmu, viss ir kārtībā".
(Laughter)
(Smiekli)
And from the crowd emerged this young man, Scott Haines. And he said, "Listen, this is the project I've been looking for my whole life. I'd like to be the person to edit this all together." I said, "Thank you, Scott. I'm so glad that you found me." And Scott aggregated all of the videos. He scrubbed the audio. He made sure that everything lined up. And then we posted this video to YouTube about a year and a half ago. This is "Lux Aurumque" sung by the Virtual Choir.
Un no cilvēku pūļa iznira šis jaunais vīrs, Skots Heinzs. Un viņš teica "Klau, šis ir projekts, kuru es esmu meklējis visu savu dzīvi. Es gribētu būt tas cilvēks, kurš visu saliek kopā." Es atbildēju "Paldies tev, Skot, man prieks, ka tu mani atradi." Un Skots sakopoja visus šos video. Viņš noskribināja audio. Viņš pārliecinājās, ka viss ir salikts kā vajag. Un tad mēs pirms apmēram pusotra gada ielikām šo video YouTube. Šis ir "Lux Aurumque" Virtuālā kora izpildījumā
(Singing)
(Dzied)
I'll stop it there in the interest of time. (Applause)
Te mēs arī apstāsimies, lai ietaupītu laiku. (Aplausi)
Thank you. Thank you.
Paldies. Paldies.
(Applause)
(Aplausi)
Thank you. So there's more. There's more. Thank you so much.
Paldies. Ir vēl. Ir vēl. Liels jums paldies.
And I had the same reaction you did. I actually was moved to tears when I first saw it. I just couldn't believe the poetry of all of it -- these souls all on their own desert island, sending electronic messages in bottles to each other. And the video went viral. We had a million hits in the first month and got a lot of attention for it. And because of that, then a lot of singers started saying, "All right, what's Virtual Choir 2.0?" And so I decided for Virtual Choir 2.0 that I would choose the same piece that Britlin was singing, "Sleep," which is another work that I wrote in the year 2000 -- poetry by my dear friend Charles Anthony Silvestri. And again, I posted a conductor video, and we started accepting submissions. This time we got some more mature members. (Singing) And some younger members.
Man bija tāda pati reakcija kā jums. Patiesībā pirmo reizi to redzot, man acīs sariesās asaras. Es vienkārši nespēju noticēt tā visa dzejiskumā -- šīs dvēseles, katra uz savas tuksnešainās salas viena otrai sūta elektroniskās ziņas pudelēs. Un video kļuva virāls. Pirmajā mēnesī to noskatījās miljons cilvēku un tas guva lielu ievērību. Un tādēļ, tad liela daļa dziedātāju sāka vaicāt, "Labi, kad būs Virtuālais koris 2,0?" Un tāpēc es nolēmu izveidot Virtuālo kori 2,0, kuram es izvēlējos Britlinas iepriekš dziedāto skaņdarbu, "Sleep", kas ir vēl viens skaņdarbs, ko es sarakstīju 2000. gadā -- dzejas autors ir mans dārgais draugs Čārlzs Entonijs Silvestri. Un arī šoreiz es publicēju video, kur es diriģēju, un mēs sākām pieņemt pieteikumus. Šoreiz pieteicās nobriedušāki cilvēki. (Dzied) Un arī daži jaunāki biedri.
(Video) Soprano: ♫ Upon my pillow ♫ ♫ Safe in bed ♫ EW: That's Georgie from England. She's only nine. Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever seen?
(Video) Soprāns: ♫ Uz spilvena, ♫ ♫ Gultas siltumā ♫ ĒV: Tā ir Džordžija no Anglijas. Viņa ir tikai deviņus gadus veca. Vai viņa nav lielākais jaukumiņš, kādu esat redzējuši?
Someone did all eight videos -- a bass even singing the soprano parts. This is Beau Awtin. (Video) Beau Awtin: ♫ Safe in bed ♫
Kāds pat ielika visus astoņus video, kur bass pat dziedāja soprāna partiju. Šī ir Bo Otvina. (Video) Bo Otvins: ♫ Gultas siltumā ♫
EW: And our goal -- it was sort of an arbitrary goal -- there was an MTV video where they all sang "Lollipop" and they got people from all over the world to just sing that little melody. And there were 900 people involved in that. So I told the singers, "That's our goal. That's the number for us to beat." And we just closed submissions January 10th, and our final tally was 2,051 videos from 58 different countries. Thank you. (Applause) From Malta, Madagascar, Thailand, Vietnam, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, as far north as Alaska and as far south as New Zealand.
EV: Un mūsu mērķis -- tas bija diezgan pamatīgs -- MTV bija tāds video, kur visi dziedāja „Lollipop” un viņi panāca, ka cilvēki no visas pasaules dziedāja šo mazo melodiju. Un tajā piedalījās 900 cilvēku. Tāpēc es teicu dziedātājiem, "Šis ir mūsu mērķis. Šis skaitlis mums ir jāpārspēj." Un mēs nupat, 10. janvārī, beidzām pieņemt pieteikumus un mūsu kopējais dalībnieku iesūtītais video skaits bija 2,051 pavisam no 58 dažādām valstīm. Paldies. (Aplausi) No Maltas, Madagaskāras, Taizemes, Vjetnamas, Jordānijas, Ēģiptes, Izraēlas, no tik tāliem ziemeļiem kā Aļaska līdz pat tik tālu uz dienvidiem kā Jaunzēlande.
And we also put a page on Facebook for the singers to upload their testimonials, what it was like for them, their experience singing it. And I've just chosen a few of them here. "My sister and I used to sing in choirs together constantly. Now she's an airman in the air force constantly traveling. It's so wonderful to sing together again!" I love the idea that she's singing with her sister. "Aside from the beautiful music, it's great just to know I'm part of a worldwide community of people I never met before, but who are connected anyway." And my personal favorite, "When I told my husband that I was going to be a part of this, he told me that I did not have the voice for it." Yeah, I'm sure a lot of you have heard that too. Me too. "It hurt so much, and I shed some tears, but something inside of me wanted to do this despite his words. It is a dream come true to be part of this choir, as I've never been part of one. When I placed a marker on the Google Earth Map, I had to go with the nearest city, which is about 400 miles away from where I live. As I am in the Great Alaskan Bush, satellite is my connection to the world."
Un mēs arī izveidojām lapu Facebook, kur dziedātājiem dalīties ar savu pieredzi, kā tas viņiem bija, viņi piedzīvotais, dziedot šo skaņdarbu. Un es no visiem esmu izvēlējies dažus. "Agrāk mēs ar māsu visu laiku kopā dziedājām koros. Tagad viņa ir lidotāja gaisa spēkos un nepārtraukti ceļo. Ir tik brīnišķīgi atkal dziedāt kopā!" Man patīk šī doma, ka viņa dzied kopā ar māsu. "Izņemot skaisto mūziku, ir lieliski apzināties, ka tu esi vispasaules kopienas daļa ar cilvēkiem, kurus tu nepazīsti, taču šā vai tā esi saistīta." Un mana personīgi mīļākā, "Kad es pateicu savam vīram, ka piedalīšos, viņš man pateica, ka man tam nav piemērota balss". Jā, droši vien daudzi no jums ir dzirdējuši ko tādu. Es arī. "Tas bija sāpīgi un es nobirdināju asaras, bet kaut kas manī gribēja to darīt tāpat, par spīti viņa vārdiem. Būt daļai šī kora ir kā sapņa piepildījums, jo kā tādā es iesaistos pirmo reizi dzīvē. Kad es uz Google Earth Map atliku marķeri, man bija jādodas uz tuvāko pilsētu, kas atrodas apmēram 400 jūdzes no vietas, kur es dzīvoju. Jo es dzīvoju Great Alaskan Bush, pavadonis ir vienīgais, kas mani saista ar šo pasauli".
So two things struck me deeply about this. The first is that human beings will go to any lengths necessary to find and connect with each other. It doesn't matter the technology. And the second is that people seem to be experiencing an actual connection. It wasn't a virtual choir. There are people now online that are friends; they've never met. But, I know myself too, I feel this virtual esprit de corps, if you will, with all of them. I feel a closeness to this choir -- almost like a family.
Divas lietas mani dziļi aizkustināja. Pirmkārt, cilvēks mēros jebkādu nepieciešamo attālumu, lai tikai savā starpā saistītos. Tehnoloģijai nav nozīmes. Un otrkārt, ka cilvēki patiešām izjūt patiesu saikni. Tas nebija virtuālais koris. Daži cilvēki ir satikušies tiešsaistē un nu ir draugi; lai gan dzīvē nekad nav tikušies. Bet arī es, es jūtu šo virtuālo esprit de corps, ar ikkatru no viņiem. Es jūtu tuvību ar šo kori -- gandrīz kā ģimeni.
What I'd like to close with then today is the first look at "Sleep" by Virtual Choir 2.0. This will be a premiere today. We're not finished with the video yet. You can imagine, with 2,000 synchronized YouTube videos, the render time is just atrocious. But we do have the first three minutes. And it's a tremendous honor for me to be able to show it to you here first. You're the very first people to see this. This is "Sleep," the Virtual Choir.
Tas, ar ko es šodien gribētu beigt, ir "Sleep" pirmatskaņojums Virtuālā kora 2.0 izpildījumā Šodien ir video pirmizrāde. Tas vēl nav pilnībā pabeigts. Jūs variet iedomāties ar 2,000 sinhronizētiem YouTube video atskaņošanas laiks ir vienkārši zvērīgs. Bet mums ir gatavas pirmās trīs minūtes. Un šis man ir ārkārtīgi liels gods spēt jums, kas atrodas šeit, parādīt to pirmajiem. Jūs esat pirmie cilvēki, kas to redzēs. Šis ir "Sleep" Virtuālā kora izpildījumā.
(Video) Virtual Choir: ♫ The evening hangs ♫ ♫ beneath the moon ♫ ♫ A silver thread on darkened dune ♫ ♫ With closing eyes and resting head ♫ ♫ I know that sleep is coming soon ♫ ♫ Upon my pillow, ♫ ♫ safe in bed, ♫ ♫ a thousand pictures fill my head ♫ ♫ I cannot sleep ♫ ♫ my mind's aflight ♫ ♫ and yet my limbs seem made of lead ♫ ♫ If there are noises in the night ♫
(Video) Virtuālais koris: ♫ Vakars kavējas ♫ ♫ zem mēness stariem ♫ ♫ Sidraba pavediens tumšā kāpā ♫ ♫ Ar aizvērtām acīm un nolaistu galvu ♫ ♫ Es zinu, ka miegs drīz nāks ♫ ♫ Uz spilvena, ♫ ♫ gultas siltumā, ♫ ♫ tūkstoš ainu pilda manu galvu ♫ ♫ Es nevaru aizmigt ♫ ♫ mans prāts ir nomierīgs ♫ ♫ tomēr mani locekļi ir kā no svina ♫ ♫ Ja nakts melnumā ir trokšņi ♫
Eric Whitacre: Thank you very, very much. Thank you. (Applause) Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
Ēriks Vitakers: Liels, liels paldies. Paldies. (Aplausi) Liels paldies. Paldies. Paldies.
(Applause)
(Aplausi)