The feat is unprecedented in music history. Eric Whitacre has developed a project that demonstrates a moving force of digital harmony – a spectacular operatic concert manifested solely through the Web. Calling it his “Virtual Choir,” Whitacre fused the voices of 185 individual singers from 12 countries around the world for the special performance of his very own Lux Aurumque all through Youtube.

The idea to construct this digital opera from uploaded video recordings of individual singers grew from one young girl posting a video of her own solitary performance of a Whitacre work. The intimate, informal presentation struck the young composer and inspired him to silently conduct an original work on video. He then called singers across the globe to participate and use his silent video to perform their individual parts of the operatic composition. The unique opera has now received more than 1.5 million hits on Youtube and the idea has become the newest innovation to revolutionize opera.

“For me, singing together and making music together is a fundamental human experience,” Whitacre divulged. “And I love the idea that technology can bring people together from all over the world and still sort of participate in this transcendent experience.”

Whitacre is currently developing his next virtual choir opera. The call to perform Sleep has elicited more than a thousand video uploads from nearly 50 countries with the youngest singer just 9 years old. It’s set to release this spring.

TED, a non-profit “devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading,” is featuring Whitacre at its 2011 conference The Rediscovery of Wonder. Whitacre will speak about his work as a composer, including his innovative work with the “virtual choir,” at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center on the morning of March 1.