The Wright State Raiders are the athletics teams of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. The school currently participates in fifteen sports at the Division I level of the NCAA, and are members of the Horizon League. The school's mascot is a wolf.

History[link]

Wright State was founded in 1964 as a branch campus of both Miami University and Ohio State University. The school began its athletic program in 1968 as a Division II school, where the athletics program achieved great success, having over 200 All-American athletes and winning the 1983 Division II Men's Basketball national championship. In 1987, Wright State began the transition to Division I athletics, with its first tournament qualifier being a golfer in 1988. From 1991 to 1994 the school was a member of the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the Summit League) before moving in 1994 to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now known as the Horizon League). Since joining the Horizon, several teams have won conference titles, many athletes have been named to all-conference teams, and several coaches have won Coach of the Year honors.^[1]

Among the Raiders' most notable athletic achievements are the NCAA Division II men's basketball national championship in 1983, and taking a turn at March Madness in 1993, qualifying for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as champion of the Mid-Continent Conference; the Raiders qualified again in 2007 as winner of the Horizon League tournament. The men's and women's swimming and diving teams are also consistently strong. The men have won 6 of the last 13 conference championships.

Mascot[link]

For many years, Wright State's sports teams used a character called Rowdy Raider as their mascot; a red-bearded Viking with a horned helmet, which emerged in 1986. In 1997, the Viking was retired and the Wolf was born. In 2007, Rowdy Raider received a new update for the mascot suit; a gray, scarier wolf replaced the more humorous brown wolf.

Sports[link]

Men's Sports

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross-Country
• Golf
• Soccer
• Swimming & Diving
• Tennis

Women's Sports

• Basketball
• Cross-Country
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming & Diving
• Tennis
• Track & Field
• Volleyball

Facilities[link]

• Nutter Center - men's and women's basketball
• C.J. McLin Gymnasium - volleyball
• WSU Natatorium - men's & women's swimming & diving
• Nischwitz Stadium - baseball
• WSU Softball Field - softball
• Alumni Field at Rinzler Student Sports Complex - men's & women's soccer
• WSU Tennis Courts - men's & women's tennis
• Setzer Pavilion/Mills Morgan Center - training and athletics department

Men's Basketball[link]

The Wright State men's basketball team has seen the national spotlight several times since the program moved to Division I in 1987-88 and into the new Nutter Center in 1990. In 1993, the Raiders qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and since then Wright State is 5-1 all-time at home vs Top 25 competition. In 1995, Wright State defeated #25 Xavier, 71-70, their first ever home win over a Top 25 opponent. In the 1999-2000 season, Wright State beat #8 Michigan State at the Nutter Center, 53-49. On February 10, 2007 Wright State welcomed their Horizon League rival and ninth-ranked Butler Bulldogs to Dayton. In an impressive showing that would lead the Raiders to be named ESPN.com's "Team of the Week", Wright State dominated No. 9 Butler, 77-65. ^[2] The Bulldogs returned to Dayton for the 2007 Horizon League tournament final, where Wright State again beat No. 17 Butler (by a score of 60-55) to earn a berth in its second-ever NCAA Tournament. DaShaun Wood, the Horizon League Player of the Year, led Wright State with 27 points and 5 assists. ^[3] Wright State continued its streak the following season, defeating #13 Butler, 43-42. ^[4]

Players in Professional Sports[link]

• Brian Anderson, former Mid-Continent Conference Pitcher and Player of the Year (1992) and finalist for the Golden Spikes Award (1993), was drafted by the California Angels in the first round of the June free agent draft in June 1993 after completing his junior year. He made his major league debut in September 1993. ^[5] He was a member of the 2001 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks and started Game 3 of that World Series against the New York Yankees. ^{[6] [7]}
• Bill Edwards played for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1993.^[8]
• Keith Gordon was drafted in June 1990 by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the amateur draft. ^[9]
• Carlos Peña attended WSU and Northeastern University before being drafted by the Texas Rangers as the 10th pick of the 1998 amateur draft. ^[10]
• Vitaly Potapenko was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA Draft and went on to an 11-year NBA career. In June 2010, Potapenko was hired on as an assistant coach for the Indianapolis Pacers Potapenko was named the Horizon League's Newcomer of the Year for the '94-'95 season, and led the Horizon League in FG% in both '94-'95 and '95-'96 while garnering First Team All-League honors both years. Vitaly was born in Kiev, Ukraine. ^[11]
• Bill Shea was a backup quarterback and vice president of communications for the Port Huron Pirates professional indoor football team. The Pirates played in the Continental Indoor Football League in 2006-2007. Shea was part of the inaugural Pirates squad that went 12-0 and won the league title.
• Frank Lickliter has been on the PGA tour since 1991 and has over $10 million in career earnings. He has won 2 PGA tournament titles in his career and finished 2nd on four separate occasions. ^[12]
• Joe Smith is a Major League Baseball player who currently is a reliever for the Cleveland Indians.^[13]
• DaShaun Wood was invited to the Atlanta Hawks summer league team. He has played with Pallacanestro Cantù, Pallacanestro Treviso and is currently the starting point guard for Alba Berlin.^[14]

References[link]

1. ^ History - WSURaiders.com
2. ^ Weekly Watch - Men's Basketball - ESPN.com, February 12, 2007.
3. ^ Wright State stuns #17 Butler, wins Horizon tourney - ESPN.com
4. ^ Wilson, Brown lead Wright State to 43-42 upset of No. 13 Butler - Rivals.com
5. ^ Brian Anderson - MLB.com
6. ^ It's Rocky vs. Rocket in Game 3 - USA Today
7. ^ Brian Anderson - Baseball Reference
8. ^ Bill Edwards - Basketball Reference
9. ^ Keith Gordon - Baseball Reference
10. ^ Carlos Pena - Baseball Reference
11. ^ Vitaly Potapenko - Basketball Reference
12. ^ Frank Lickliter II - Yahoo! Sports
13. ^ Joe Smith - Baseball Reference
14. ^ Deshaun Wood - Alba Berlin

External links[link]

• Official athletics Site

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, just outside of Dayton. The school offers degrees at the bachelors, masters, and doctoral level. The university has a branch campus on Grand Lake St. Marys with a Celina, Ohio, mailing address. As of 2012^[update], the university enrolls over 19,000 students.

Wright State is divided into eight colleges and three schools. The colleges are: Education and Human Services, Engineering and Computer Science, Liberal Arts, Nursing and Health, Raj Soin College of Business, Science and Mathematics, University College, and Lake Campus. The schools are: Boonshoft School of Medicine, Graduate School, and Professional Psychology.

History[link]

Founded in 1964, Wright State University was originally the Dayton branch campus of both Miami University and Ohio State University. At that time it comprised only a single building, Allyn Hall (named for Stanley Allyn, then-president of National Cash Register and one of the university's founders).

A 1965 act of the Ohio General Assembly created the university. Several names were considered, including Dayton State University, Southwest Ohio State University, Shawnee University, Four Rivers University (after the four nearby rivers: the Great Miami, the Mad, the Stillwater, and Wolf Creek), and Mad River University. Wright State University was eventually chosen to honor the Wright brothers, residents of Dayton. On October 1, 1967, the university met enrollment criteria set by state legislature and Senate Bill 212 passed to actually create a new university. This led to the official charter of Wright State University.

Despite this, it has a Dayton address. Prior to current president David R. Hopkins' appointment, Wright State University had five other presidents: Brage Golding (1966–1973); Robert J. Kegerreis (1973–1985); Paige E. Mulhollan (1985–1994); Harley E. Flack (1994–1998); and Kim Goldenberg (1998–2006).

In 2007, Wright State University celebrated its 40th Anniversary in connection with the Presidential Inauguration of David R. Hopkins. In order to mark this milestone in university history, Wright State created a 40th Anniversary website to highlight the events, history, and vision of its community. More information about the university's history can be seen on this Wright State site.

Accreditation[link]

The university is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools at the doctoral degree-granting level.

Campus and community[link]

As of fall 2011^[update], according to statistics published by the university, it had a total enrollment of 19,600 (including 1,417 at the branch Lake Campus, located in Celina, Ohio). Wright State offers 186 degree programs, including 19 associate degrees, 91 bachelor's degrees, and 76 graduate and professional programs (including schools of medicine and professional psychology). Over 70 percent of freshmen live on campus. Approximately an additional 5,000 commuter students live in apartments less than one mile from campus, making the atmosphere increasingly more like that of a residential campus than a commuter school.

Wright State has a compact campus, with several academic buildings constructed following Allyn Hall. Key buildings on campus include the Founders' Quadrangle (quad) buildings, which are Allyn Hall (home to the College of Education and Human Services and Wright State dining option, The Hangar), Millett Hall (named for John Millett, former president of Miami University, and home of the College of Liberal Arts), Fawcett Hall (named after Novice Fawcett, president of Ohio State), and Oelman Hall (named after Robert Oelman, first president of the board of trustees, and the home of the College of Science and Mathematics).

Other buildings include Rike Hall (named after the founder of the Rike Kumler company, since merged into Federated Department Stores, home of the Raj Soin College of Business); the Diggs Laboratory (a Gold LEED certified building), University Hall (administrative offices, University College, and the College of Nursing and Health), the Creative Arts Center, the Mathematical and Microbiological Sciences Building (M&M), the Fritz and Dolores Russ Engineering Center (home of the College of Engineering and Computer Science), the Medical Sciences Building, Biological Sciences Building, Health Sciences Building (home of the School of Professional Psychology), Joshi Research Center, and the Student Union (which was created by combining the former gymnasium and University Center). The main university library is the Paul Laurence Dunbar library.

Turning Points (B.U.R.T)

Across from the Mathematics and Microbiology building is an abstract sculpture titled "Turning Points," designed by David Black. This piece was created in 1998, as part of the Ohio Arts Council Percent for Arts Program and the addition of University Hall. The statue has been criticized for appearing very similar to many of Black's other works, most of which are displayed in public universities or public spaces.^[2] Among staff and students at the university, the statue is known as 'Big Ugly Red Thing,' or simply as 'BURT.'

The entire campus is accessible to people with disabilities, and it has a national reputation for being an extremely welcoming and accommodating campus. The campus made history when it opened the Winegerd Service Dog Park in October 2008. Wright State is the first university in the nation to create a dog park especially for service dogs. A distinctive feature of Wright State is that one can travel around the main campus both by sidewalks outside and a tunnel network that connects almost all the buildings at the basement level.

School of Medicine[link]

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine utilizes the main campus for pre-clinical training and seven area hospitals for clinical and residency training opportunities. In 2005, the school changed its name to the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in recognition of the Oscar Boonshoft family, which gave Wright State's largest philanthropic gift to the medical school.

Admission to Wright State University's School of Medicine is competitive among the many students who apply; in 2009, over 2,832 students applied for admission to the school, and 100 were accepted. The Boonshoft School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The school's charter class began studies in 1976 and graduated in 1980. Since then, more than 2,345 M.D.'s have graduated from the School of Medicine. Wright State alumni are practicing in every state in the nation.

In 2009, the school became the first medical school in the United States to debut its own medical student produced radio program, dubbed Radio Rounds.

Greek life[link]

Wright State University currently hosts five North-American Interfraternity Conference fraternities, one Local Fraternity, five National Panhellenic Conference sororities, and eight of the nine members of National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities and sororities.

NIC Fraternities[link]

1. Delta Tau Delta
2. Phi Kappa Tau
3. Phi Sigma Phi
4. Sigma Phi Delta
5. Sigma Phi Epsilon

Local Fraternities[link]

1. Beta Phi Omega

NPC Sororities[link]

1. Alpha Xi Delta
2. Delta Zeta
3. Kappa Delta
4. Theta Phi Alpha
5. Zeta Tau Alpha

Undergraduate programs[link]

Wright State offers 91 baccalaureate degrees in the following colleges: the Soin College of Business, the College of Education and Human Services, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the of Liberal Arts, the of Nursing and Health, and the College of Science and Mathematics. The Lake Campus also offers a limited number of complete undergraduate bachelor's degrees, as well as a variety of associate degrees.

Graduate programs[link]

Wright State offers 76 graduate, doctoral, and professional programs through the Wright State University Graduate School, the School of Medicine, and the of Professional Psychology. The Lake Campus also offers a limited number of graduate programs.

ROTC[link]

Wright State University offers Air Force ROTC and Army ROTC programs on campus, known as Detachment 643 and the Raider Battalion, respectively. The Air Force ROTC program contains the cross town schools of the University of Dayton, Cedarville University, and Sinclair Community College and is the largest AFROTC detachment in the Northeast Region.

Athletics[link]

Fine and performing arts[link]

Wright State University has programs in fine and performing arts programs

The Department of Art & Art History received a major art collection and the pledge of one million dollars to create a state-of-the-art gallery to present the work of students, faculty, and leading artists.^{[citation needed]}

Collaboration, Education, Leadership and Innovation in the Arts designated an Ohio Center of Excellence[link]

In the fall of 2009, Wright State University's three departments of Art, Music, and Theatre, Dance & Motion Pictures inaugurated a new initiative of collaborative artistic and educational endeavor, called CELIA (Collaboration, Education, Leadership and Innovation in the Arts), dedicated to enhancing "ongoing collaborations as well as nurture new partnerships." Projects accepted for the CELIA designation demonstrate high-quality, innovative collaborations, and the ability to further strengthen the reputation of the arts at Wright State.

One of the first of these projects was the Academy Award-nominated half hour documentary The Last Truck, produced for HBO and broadcast on Labor Day, 2008. The film documented the closing of a major GM truck plant in Moraine, Ohio, in 2008. More recently, the Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures co-produced the regional and university premiere production of August: Osage County in the fall of 2010, with the region's professional theatre, The Human Race Theatre Company.^[3] In May 2011, the departments of Music and Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures collaborated with the Dayton Philharmonic a full-stage production of the Mass by Leonard Bernstein at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in Dayton.^[4]

On October 20, 2011, CELIA was designated an Ohio Center of Excellence by Jim Petro, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents at a press conference on the campus of Wright State University, in which Tom Hanks congratulated the Wright State University arts programs via a video message.^[5]

Notable alumni[link]

• Javed Abidi - disability rights activist
• David Albright - founder of Institute for Science and International Security
• Brian Anderson - professional baseball player, assistant coach
• J. Todd Anderson - film storyboard artist
• Jim Baldridge - local news anchor
• Siva S. Banda - aerospace engineer
• Michael R. Barratt - astronaut
• Joyce Beatty - member of the Ohio House of Representatives
• Andrea Bendewald - actress
• David S. Brown - historian and professor at Elizabethtown College
• Iman Crosson - actor, Obama impersonator, Internet personality
• Jennifer Crusie - romance novelist
• Kevin DeWine - chairman of the Ohio Republican Party and former member of the Ohio House of Representatives
• Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni -author
• Christopher Easton - artist
• Bill Edwards - professional basketball player
• John B. Ellington, Jr. - Air National Guard general
• Fakhar Abbas - Pakistani conservationist
• Mike Gallagher - radio host and political commentator
• Frank Lickliter - professional golfer
• Deborah Loewer - retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral
• Irene D. Long - Chief Medical Officer at the Kennedy Space Center
• Logan Martinez - political candidate and activist
• Eddie McClintock - actor
• Steve Molla - author
• Jerome Pearson - business person
• Robert Pollard - singer and songwriter
• Vitaly Potapenko - professional basketball player
• Greg Robinson - MLB player
• Nicole Scherzinger - singer
• Scott Schwalich - professional poker player
• Anthony Shaffer - U.S. Army intelligence officer
• Brad Sherwood - actor and comedian
• Joe Smith - professional baseball player
• Chase Whiteside - journalist, documentary filmmaker, and founder of New Left Media
• DaShaun Wood - professional basketball player

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site

Coordinates: 39°46′47″N 84°03′53″W / 39.779816°N 84.064765°W / 39.779816; -84.064765

David Wright may refer to:

• David Wright (artist) (1912–1967), British artist and illustrator
• David Wright (baseball) (born 1982), American Major League Baseball player
• David Wright (British musician) (born 1953), British keyboard player, composer and producer
• David Wright (British diplomat) (born 1944), British ambassador to Japan
• David Wright (Canadian diplomat), Canadian diplomat
• David Wright (footballer) (born 1980), British footballer
• David Wright (poet) (1920–1994), South African poet
• David Wright (politician) (born 1966), British politician, Labour M.P. for Telford
• Dave Wright (runner) (born 1951), South African ultramarathon runner
• David Wright (writer) (born 1964), American writer and journalis5
• Hoss Wright (David Wright), American drummer
• David McCord Wright (1909–1968), American economist
• David McKee Wright (1869–1928), Irish-born Australian poet and journalist
• David R. Wright (born 1935), American politician from Pennsylvania
• David Wright (swimming coach) (born 1948), New Zealand swimming coach
• David McKenzie Wright (1874–1937), Conservative member of Canadian House of Commons

See also[link]

• Dave Wright (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Vitaly Nikolaevich Potapenko^[1] (Ukrainian: Віталій Миколайович Потапенко, pronounced vee-TAH-lee poe-TAH-pen-koe,^[1] born March 21, 1975 in Kiev, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a Ukrainian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Wright State University and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA Draft. Nicknamed "The Ukraine Train",^[1] he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, as well as MMT Estudiantes in the Spanish ACB.^[2][3]

Since retiring as a player, Potapenko has served as an assistant coach with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers, and the Dakota Wizards.^[4]

NBA transactions[link]

• March 11, 1999 - Traded by the Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics for Andrew DeClercq and a 1999 first-round draft pick.

• July 22, 2002 - Traded by the Celtics with Kenny Anderson and Joseph Forte to the Seattle SuperSonics for Vin Baker and Shammond Williams.

• February 23, 2006 - In a four-team, nine-player trade; traded to the Sacramento Kings; the SuperSonics acquired Earl Watson, Bryon Russell, a 2008 second-round pick and cash from the Denver Nuggets, Nuggets also acquired Ruben Patterson from the Trail Blazers, Trail Blazers acquired Voshon Lenard from the Nuggets and Brian Skinner from the Kings; Kings also acquired Sergei Monia from the Trail Blazers.^[5]

Other[link]

• Potapenko was a sociology major at Wright State.^[1]
• His second-favorite sport is soccer.^[1]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• NBA.com Profile
• NBA statistics at basketball-reference.com

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Eric Whitacre
Whitacre conducting in 2007
Background information
Born	(1970-01-02) 2 January 1970 (age 42)
Occupations	Composer Conductor Lecturer Model
Website	EricWhitacre.com

Eric Whitacre (born 2 January 1970 in Reno, Nevada) is an American Grammy award winning composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation.^[1][2] In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst (released by the British ensemble Polyphony on Hyperion Records) became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination. Robert Hollingworth commented: "what hits you straight between the eyes is the honesty, optimism and sheer belief that passes any pretension. This is music that can actually make you smile."^[3] In addition to Whitacre's litany of choral and wind ensemble compositions, he is also known for his "Virtual Choir" projects on YouTube, bringing individual voices from around the globe together in a cyber internet choir. His virtual choirs have exposed his music to a new audience and have helped it gain an unprecedented popularity.^[4][5] Whitacre signed a long-term recording deal with Decca in 2010 and continues to develop his award winning musical Paradise Lost. A concert version was given at Carnegie Hall in 2010.^[6] Plans for the stage show and soundtrack extend into 2013.

Biography[link]

Coming to classical music relatively late in life when he joined a college choir at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), where he earned a BA in Music in 1995. The first work that Eric Whitacre sang – Mozart's Requiem – changed his life. Inspired to compose, his first piece Go, Lovely Rose was completed at the age of 21. At the age of 23 he completed his first piece for Wind Orchestra, Ghost Train, which has been recorded over 40 times and has continued to sell phenomenally well. He went on to the Juilliard School (New York), where he studied with Pulitzer Prize and Oscar-winning composer, John Corigliano and earned his Master of Music degree.

Countless recordings feature music written by Eric Whitacre, but his first album as both composer and conductor on Decca/Universal, Light & Gold, won a Grammy in 2012, reaped unanimous five star reviews, and became the no. 1 Classical Album in the US and UK charts within a week of a release. Eric's second album, Water Night, was released on Decca in 3 April 2012 and will feature seven world premiere recordings and include performances from his professional choir Eric Whitacre Singers, the London Symphony Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber and Hila Plitmann.

He has written for the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Chanticleer, Julian Lloyd Webber, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Rundfunkchor Berlin, and The King's Singers, among others. His musical, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, won both the ASCAP Harold Arlen award and the Richard Rodgers Award, and earned 10 nominations at the Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. A versatile musician, he has also worked with prolific film composer, Hans Zimmer, co-writing the Mermaid Theme for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In 2011, Eric conducted the winning entries of the Abbey Road 80th Anniversary Anthem Competition, recording the London Symphony Orchestra and his professional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers, in Abbey Road Studio 1.

Eric's ground-breaking Virtual Choir, Lux Aurumque, received over a million views on YouTube in just 2 months (now approaching 3 million), featuring 185 singers from 12 different countries. Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 2.0, Sleep, was released in April 2011 and involved over 2,000 voices from 58 countries. Virtual Choir 3, Water Night, combined 3746 submissions from 73 countries and was released in April 2012.

As a conductor, Eric Whitacre has performed across the world with orchestras, choirs and bands, and he gives regular guest workshops. His Soaring Leap initiative is a dynamic one-day workshop where singers, conductors and composers read, rehearse and perform several of Eric's works, digging deep into the poetry and exploring the compositional tools. An exceptional orator, he was honoured to address the U.N. Leaders programme and give a TED Talk in March 2011, which earned the first full standing ovation of the conference. He has addressed audiences at Duke, Harvard, The Economist, Seoul Digital Forum and JCDA Conference in Tokyo. Eric was appointed Composer in Residence at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, UK, in September 2011.

Many of Eric Whitacre's works have entered the standard choral and symphonic repertories and have become the subject of scholarly works and doctoral dissertations. Whitacre has received composition awards from the Barlow International Composition Competition, the ACDA and the American Composers Forum. In 2001, he became the youngest recipient ever awarded the coveted Raymond C. Brock commission by the ACDA. Eric Whitacre currently lives in London with his wife (Grammy award winning soprano, Hila Plitmann) and their son.

Style[link]

Whitacre writes music that incorporates contemporary sounds and influences while demanding precision, intonation and ensemble. He is probably best known for his choral works; however, both his choral and instrumental styles use his signature "Whitacre chords," or pan-diatonic clusters usually arranged in successive increasing or decreasing density. Whitacre achieves this growth and decay by splitting voices divisi—in one case up to 18 parts. These sonorities can often be read as seventh or ninth chords, with or without suspended seconds and fourths. Perhaps his most famous chord is a root-position major triad with an added major second and/or perfect fourth. Whitacre makes frequent use of quartal, quintal and secundal harmonies, and is also known for his use of unconventional chord progressions. His use of rhythm often involves mixed, complex, and/or compound meters. His pieces sometimes include frequent meter changes and unusual rhythmic patterns. Another trademark of Whitacre's pieces is the use of aleatoric and indeterminate sections, as well as unusual score instructions involving, in some cases, hand actions and/or props.^[7]

Projects[link]

Virtual Choir[link]

Whitacre's Virtual Choir projects were inspired by a video sent to him of a young girl singing one of his choral pieces.^[8] He began with a test run of Sleep, then Lux Aurumque in 2009^[4][9] and then Sleep again in 2010. The video for Lux Aurumque, featuring a virtual choir of 185 voices from 12 countries, was described as a "musical experience that works better than anyone might have expected."^[10] It received over a million hits in the first two months of its release.

The 2010 version of the Virtual Choir 2.0 "Sleep" began in October 2010, and the video submission process was completed on 10 January 2011. Whitacre spoke at The 2011 TED Conference^[11] and this video was released on 1 April 2011, accompanied with a short 2 minute example of the "Sleep" project. The YouTube release was on 7 April 2011. One year later,it had been viewed over 900,000 times.

On 27 September 2011, Eric announced on his blog his plans for a "Virtual Choir 3". On 21 December 2011, it was revealed that the piece will be "Water Night", an a cappella piece he wrote in 1995.^[12] By the entry close date of 1 February 2012, 3,746 videos had been uploaded by 2,945 people in 73 countries, singing one or more parts of Water Night. NBC Network's Nightly News, and ABC National News television reported on the Virtual Choir. This heightened awareness of the project in the mainstream. The completed work was released as a YouTube video 2 April 2012, and received 100,000 views in the first week. On 15 April, on the exact 100 year anniversary moment of the sinking of the Titanic, the Water Night Virtual Choir video was shown in the new Titanic Belfast commemorative building, in remembrance of those lost in the disaster.

Recording projects[link]

Whitacre's first album with Decca, Light & Gold, was released in October 2010. This album won the Grammy for Best Choral Performance in 2012.^[13] From October to December 2010, Whitacre was a visiting Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge during Michaelmas (Autumn) Term.^[14]

Whitacre's second album with Decca, Water Night, was released on 3 April 2012 in the United States, and features some of his newest compositions for chorus and for orchestra.^[15]

Performance projects[link]

Whitacre has worked collaboratively with Distinguished Concerts International New York^[16] (DCINY), and is due to collaborate with them again in 2011 in New York, Vancouver and Los Angeles. With regard to his musical "Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings", he was described by the New York Times as a "younger, hipper Andrew Lloyd Webber, with fleeting hints of Bernstein and Sondheim".^[6]

On 24 October 2010, he conducted an all-American programme with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the Barbican London in a performance that featured his commission for the London Symphony Chorus entitled Songs of Immortality. On 28 November 2010, he sat on the panel of judges for the final episode of Choir of the Year, broadcast on BBC Four and BBC Radio 3. In December 2010, Whitacre conducted the I Vocalisti choir in Hamburg, and was a guest conductor of the Christmas performance of the Berlin Rundfunkchor.

On 6 November 2010, Whitacre conducted Côrdydd, a Cardiff-based mixed choir, and friends in a concert of his work at the BBC Hoddinott Hall in the Wales Millennium Centre.

He composed a piece for the Sidney Sussex college choir, and worked with students in masterclasses and workshops. The concert version of his musical Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings was performed to a sold out audience at Carnegie Hall in June 2010.

Whitacre is a founding member of BCM International, a quartet of composers consisting of himself, Steven Bryant, Jonathan Newman and James Bonney, which aspires to "enrich the wind ensemble repertoire with music unbound by traditional thought or idiomatic cliché."^[17]

Awards and honors[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

Whitacre has won awards from the Barlow international composition competition, American Choral Directors Association, American Composers' Forum and in 2001 became the youngest recipient ever of The Raymond C Brock Commission given by the American Choral Directors Association. His musical Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings earned him a Richard Rodgers Award and received 10 nominations at the 2007 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. The album Cloudburst and Other Choral Works received a Grammy nomination in 2007 for Best Choral Performance. Later, his album "Light and Gold" won a Grammy for Best Choral Performance in 2012.^[18]

Works[link]

Wind symphony[link]

• Equus
• Ghost Train Triptych
  • Ghost Train
  • At the Station
  • Motive Revolution
• Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!
• Noisy Wheels of Joy
• October
• Sleep (choral transcription)
• The Seal Lullaby (choral transcription for wind symphony and piano)
• Lux Aurumque (transcription of the choral work, transposed a semitone lower from C-Sharp Minor to C Minor)
• Cloudburst (choral transcription)
• Libertas Imperio (From Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings)

SATB choral[link]

• A Boy and A Girl (poem by Octavio Paz)
• Alleluia (adapted from his October)
• Animal Crackers, Volume 1 (Poems by Ogden Nash)
  • The Panther
  • The Cow
  • The Firefly
• Animal Crackers, Volume 2 (Poems by Ogden Nash)
  • The Canary
  • The Eel
  • The Kangaroo
• The City and the Sea (poems by e. e. cummings)
  • i walked the boulevard
  • the moon is hiding in her hair
  • maggie and millie and molly and may
  • as is the sea marvelous
  • little man in a hurry
• Cloudburst (poem by Octavio Paz)
• Five Hebrew Love Songs (poem by Hila Plitmann)
  • Temuna
  • Kala Kalla (Light Bride)
  • Larov (Mostly)
  • Eyze Sheleg! (What snow!)
  • Rakut (Tenderness)
• Goodnight Moon (chorus and piano)
• Her Sacred Spirit Soars (poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri)
• Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine (libretto by Charles Anthony Silvestri)
• Little Birds (poem by Octavio Paz)
• little tree (poem by E. E. Cummings)
• Lux Aurumque (poem by Edward Esch; translated into Latin by Charles Anthony Silvestri) (also set for male chorus)
• Nox Aurumque (poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri)
• Oculi Omnium
• The Seal Lullaby (poem by Rudyard Kipling)
• She Weeps Over Rahoon (poem by James Joyce)
• Sleep (originally a setting of Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"; for copyright reasons^[19] the published version uses a specially-written text by Charles Anthony Silvestri)
• Sleep, My Child (Choral transcription from Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings)
• The Stolen Child (setting of a poem by William Butler Yeats, commissioned in 2008 by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and The King's Singers for their respective 25th and 40th anniversaries)
• This Marriage (poem by Jalal al-Din Rumi)
• Three Flower Songs
  • I Hide Myself (poem by Emily Dickinson)
  • With a Lily in Your Hand (poem by Federico García Lorca)
  • Go, Lovely Rose (poem by Edmund Waller)
• Three Songs of Faith (poems by E. E. Cummings)
  • i will wade out
  • hope, faith, life, love
  • i thank You God for most this amazing day^[20]
• Water Night (poem by Octavio Paz; translated by Muriel Rukeyser)
• When David Heard (from II Samuel 18:33)
• Winter (poem by Edward Esch)
• What If (lyrics by David Norona and Eric Whitacre)

SSA choral[link]

• She Weeps Over Rahoon (text by James Joyce)
• Five Hebrew Love Songs (poem by Hila Plitmann)
• The Seal Lullaby (text by Rudyard Kipling)
• I Thank You God (text by E. E. Cummings)

TTBB choral[link]

• Lux Aurumque (poem by Edward Esch, translated into Latin by Charles Anthony Silvestri)
• The Seal Lullaby (text by Rudyard Kipling)

Choral works not yet published[link]

• Goodnight Moon
• Songs of Immortality
  • Lie still, sleep becalmed (poem by Dylan Thomas)
  • After Great Pain (poem by Emily Dickinson)^[21]

Orchestral[link]

• A Boy and a Girl
• Equus
• Goodnight Moon (strings, harp, soprano)
• Lux Aurumque
• October
• The River Cam
• Water Night
• Winter
• Winter (for strings, choir and sitar)

Solo voice[link]

• The City and the Sea (poems by E. E. Cummings)
• Five Hebrew Love Songs (poem by Hila Plitmann)

Music theatre[link]

• Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, a musical featuring electronic, world, and orchestral instruments; classical singers; and many different styles of music.

Other arrangements[link]

• Rak HaHatchala (Only the Beginning) [aka Five Hebrew Love Songs]; for soprano voice, solo violin, piano

Film and Television[link]

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, co-composer (with Hans Zimmer) of the Mermaid Theme and choral segments

Publishers[link]

Whitacre is published by Chester Music; G. Schirmer; Walton Music; Santa Barbara Music; Shadow Water Music; and Carpe Ranam Music.

Biography portal

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Eric_Whitacre on WikiMusicGuide
• Biography on Hyperion Records
• NPR Review of Cloudburst and choral audio. 28 September 2006
• Music Productions Ltd (Management company of Eric Whitacre)
• Eric Whitacre write-up on ChesterNovello web site
• Eric talking at TED about the virtual choir
• Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 2.0, 'Sleep'
• Classical Archives Interview