1 00:00:00,537 --> 00:00:02,363 In 1991 I had 2 00:00:02,363 --> 00:00:05,121 maybe the most profound and transformative 3 00:00:05,121 --> 00:00:06,687 experience of my life. 4 00:00:06,687 --> 00:00:11,414 I was in the third year of my seven-year undergraduate degree. 5 00:00:11,414 --> 00:00:13,605 I took a couple victory laps in there. 6 00:00:13,605 --> 00:00:17,827 And I was on a college choir tour up in Northern California, 7 00:00:17,827 --> 00:00:20,484 and we had stopped for the day after all day on the bus, 8 00:00:20,484 --> 00:00:22,550 and we were relaxing next to this beautiful 9 00:00:22,550 --> 00:00:24,739 idyllic lake in the mountains. 10 00:00:24,739 --> 00:00:29,135 And there were crickets and birds and frogs making noise, 11 00:00:29,135 --> 00:00:31,851 and as we sat there, over the mountains coming in 12 00:00:31,851 --> 00:00:34,819 from the north were these Steven Spielbergian clouds 13 00:00:34,819 --> 00:00:36,292 rolling toward us, 14 00:00:36,292 --> 00:00:38,939 and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley, 15 00:00:38,939 --> 00:00:43,337 so help me God, every single animal in that place 16 00:00:43,337 --> 00:00:45,553 stopped making noise at the same time. 17 00:00:45,553 --> 00:00:50,637 (Whoosh) This electric hush, as if they could sense what was about to happen. 18 00:00:50,637 --> 00:00:52,697 And then the clouds came over us, and then, 19 00:00:52,697 --> 00:00:57,007 boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain. 20 00:00:57,007 --> 00:01:00,469 It was just extraordinary, and when I came back home 21 00:01:00,469 --> 00:01:03,472 I found a poem by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz, 22 00:01:03,472 --> 00:01:05,973 and decided to set it to music, 23 00:01:05,973 --> 00:01:08,154 a piece for choir called "Cloudburst," 24 00:01:08,154 --> 00:01:11,317 which is the piece that we'll perform for you in just a moment. 25 00:01:11,317 --> 00:01:15,692 Now fast forward to just three years ago. 26 00:01:15,692 --> 00:01:19,133 (Music) And we released to YouTube this, 27 00:01:19,133 --> 00:01:21,389 the Virtual Choir Project, 28 00:01:21,389 --> 00:01:24,596 185 singers from 12 different countries. 29 00:01:24,596 --> 00:01:28,033 You can see my little video there conducting these people, 30 00:01:28,033 --> 00:01:29,188 alone in their dorm rooms 31 00:01:29,188 --> 00:01:32,277 or in their living rooms at home. 32 00:01:32,277 --> 00:01:36,003 Two years ago, on this very stage, we premiered 33 00:01:36,003 --> 00:01:39,550 Virtual Choir 2, 34 00:01:39,550 --> 00:01:44,112 2,052 singers from 58 different countries, 35 00:01:44,112 --> 00:01:47,403 this time performing a piece that I had written called "Sleep." 36 00:01:47,403 --> 00:01:52,697 And then just last spring we released Virtual Choir 3, 37 00:01:52,697 --> 00:01:55,253 "Water Night," another piece that I had written, 38 00:01:55,253 --> 00:02:01,517 this time nearly 4,000 singers from 73 different countries. 39 00:02:01,517 --> 00:02:06,936 (Music) 40 00:02:06,936 --> 00:02:09,943 And when I was speaking to Chris about the future 41 00:02:09,943 --> 00:02:12,093 of Virtual Choir and where we might be able to take this, 42 00:02:12,093 --> 00:02:16,854 he challenged me to push the technology as far as we possibly could. 43 00:02:16,854 --> 00:02:19,357 Could we do this all in real time? 44 00:02:19,357 --> 00:02:22,397 Could we have people singing together in real time? 45 00:02:22,397 --> 00:02:23,992 And with the help of Skype, 46 00:02:23,992 --> 00:02:26,096 that is what we are going to attempt today. 47 00:02:26,096 --> 00:02:28,269 Now, we'll perform "Cloudburst" for you. 48 00:02:28,269 --> 00:02:31,421 The first half will be performed by the live singers here on stage. 49 00:02:31,421 --> 00:02:33,917 I'm joined by singers from Cal State Long Beach, 50 00:02:33,917 --> 00:02:37,245 Cal State Fullerton and Riverside Community College, 51 00:02:37,245 --> 00:02:40,565 some of the best amateur choirs in the country, and — 52 00:02:40,565 --> 00:02:47,603 (Applause) -- 53 00:02:47,603 --> 00:02:49,789 and in the second half of the piece, 54 00:02:49,789 --> 00:02:52,611 the virtual choir will join us, 30 different singers 55 00:02:52,611 --> 00:02:54,661 from 30 different countries. 56 00:02:54,661 --> 00:02:57,245 Now, we've pushed the technology as far as it can go, 57 00:02:57,245 --> 00:03:00,077 but there's still less than a second of latency, 58 00:03:00,077 --> 00:03:02,156 but in musical terms, that's a lifetime. 59 00:03:02,156 --> 00:03:03,608 We deal in milliseconds. 60 00:03:03,608 --> 00:03:06,075 So what I've done is, I've adapted "Cloudburst" 61 00:03:06,075 --> 00:03:08,578 so that it embraces the latency 62 00:03:08,578 --> 00:03:11,483 and the performers sing into the latency 63 00:03:11,483 --> 00:03:13,981 instead of trying to be exactly together. 64 00:03:13,981 --> 00:03:17,245 So with deep humility, and for your approval, 65 00:03:17,245 --> 00:03:19,357 we present "Cloudburst." 66 00:03:19,357 --> 00:03:24,076 (Applause) 67 00:03:24,076 --> 00:03:27,833 (Piano) 68 00:03:30,249 --> 00:03:34,785 [The rain ...] 69 00:03:41,142 --> 00:03:44,809 [Eyes of shadow-water] 70 00:03:46,253 --> 00:03:50,002 [eyes of well-water] 71 00:04:04,512 --> 00:04:11,275 [eyes of dream-water.] 72 00:04:15,439 --> 00:04:21,451 [Blue suns, green whirlwinds,] 73 00:04:33,919 --> 00:04:39,731 [birdbeaks of light pecking open] 74 00:04:41,687 --> 00:04:45,459 [pomegranate stars.] 75 00:04:51,694 --> 00:04:57,898 [But tell me, burnt earth, is there no water?] 76 00:05:10,311 --> 00:05:15,044 [Only blood, only dust,] 77 00:05:18,239 --> 00:05:22,867 [only naked footsteps on the thorns?] 78 00:05:34,903 --> 00:05:38,587 [The rain awakens...] 79 00:05:52,271 --> 00:05:55,583 [We must sleep with open eyes,] 80 00:05:55,583 --> 00:06:00,026 [we must dream with our hands,] 81 00:06:08,140 --> 00:06:12,426 [we must dream the dreams of a river seeking its course,] 82 00:06:13,191 --> 00:06:17,090 [of the sun dreaming its worlds.] 83 00:06:27,628 --> 00:06:33,690 [We must dream aloud,] 84 00:06:48,967 --> 00:06:56,315 [we must sing till the song puts forth roots,] 85 00:07:15,759 --> 00:07:19,899 [trunk, branches, birds, stars.] 86 00:07:45,475 --> 00:07:50,455 [We must find the lost word,] 87 00:08:00,322 --> 00:08:03,375 [and remember what the blood,] 88 00:08:08,187 --> 00:08:12,658 [the tides, the earth, and the body say,] 89 00:08:34,991 --> 00:08:41,759 [and return to the point of departure...] 90 00:08:52,561 --> 00:09:02,415 (Music) 91 00:11:22,745 --> 00:11:37,169 (Applause) 92 00:11:37,169 --> 00:11:39,478 ["Cloudburst" Octavio Paz][translation by Lysander Kemp, adapted by Eric Whitacre] 93 00:11:39,478 --> 00:11:46,881 Eric Whitacre: Beth. Annabelle, where are you? Jacob. 94 00:11:46,881 --> 00:11:51,413 (Applause) 95 00:12:08,622 --> 00:12:13,485 Thank you.