Beyond words and music: a conversation with composer eric whitacre and lyricist charles anthony silvestri

If you are involved in the choral world, you've run into the name Eric Whitacre. When I found out he was not only going to conduct on the first day of the ACDA conference but also give an interest session, I couldn't believe it! In this session, Eric Whitacre and lyricist Tony Silvestri spoke about the conversations that occur between composer and lyricist in the music writing process. At the start of the session, Eric Whitacre stated that "Poetry is the entire reason our art form (music) is exalted."

Whitacre and Silvestri discussed in depth their own experiences working together on pieces. They stressed how the process is a give-and-take situation and discussed the bond they have created by working together on pieces such as "Lux Arumque" and "Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine." Eric described music as a "communal experience," writing his music for the audience with their own personal connections. 

Towards the end of the session, Whitacre and Silvestri brought up a few new pieces that they are working on together.  They then opened up the floor to questions. This session was enlightening to me.

- Abigail Hesselton, Hofstra Class of 2019

Abigail Hesselton, Hofstra '19 MUED. "To me, I love the sense of community choral music brings. Difference don't matter when you're singing the same piece. I'm just excited to be at my first ACDA conference!"

The members of IC ACDA aim to not only share our own blog posts from the Minneapolis National Conference, but also share the experience of students in other chapters and make meaningful connections throughout the collegiate chapters of ACDA. Thanks to Abigail Hesselton for our first guest post from Hofstra University!