On March 1, I had a very inspiring experience performing with Eric Whitacre, the most famous living choral composer, known for his TED talks and for creating a Virtual Choir which included people in over 70 countries singing together online.  Eric conducted several of his pieces including four sections of his most recent major work “The Sacred Veil”, a stunningly beautiful and poignant work about dealing with cancer and impending death.  The concert took place in the Viking Pavilion, where Portland State University’s basketball team plays, and over 2000 attended the concert, which included PSU choirs as well as hundreds of high school singers in a performance of Whitacre’s “Sleep”.  Audience members described the concert as “a spiritual event” and were moved to tears.  Eric Whitacre will return to Portland in a year or two for a concert of the entire work “The Sacred Veil”, and I am already looking forward to that.  The entire March 1 concert will be posted on YouTube once it is edited, so stay tuned.  This whole experience made me grateful to be a musician and vividly aware of the grace of the latihan.