Praised as "champions of new music" by The New York Times, and now with a third consecutive Grammy nomination, The Crossing performs highlights of a new work by composer Gavin Bryars in our performance studio ahead of concerts on December 14th and 16th. WRTI's Susan Lewis is host.
Watch the broadcast recorded LIVE on WRTI's Facebook page.
The Crossing @ Christmas features the world premiere of Gavin Bryars' new work A Native Hill onDecember 14th at 8 PM at Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, presented by Annenberg Center Live, and on December 16th at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.
The work is based on texts by esteemed naturalist Wendell Berry and is the follow up to Gavin's The Fifth Century, The Crossing's Grammy-winning album.
PROGRAM for Broadcast:
Edie Hill: Poem for 2084 (1996)
Judith Weir: Vertue (2005)
Gavin Bryars: from A Native Hill (2018)
Conducted by Donald Nally, The Crossing is committed to presenting and recording new, substantial works, most of which address social issues, and has presented over 70 world premieres since its founding in 2005.
The Crossing was the American Composers Forums' 2017 Champion of New Music. The Crossing's 2014 commission Sound from The Bench by Ted Hearne was named a 2018 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. They are the recipient of the 2015 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, three ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, as well as the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award (with composer Joel Puckett) from Chorus America.
The Crossing has released 14 recordings, and has received its' third consecutive Grammy nomination for Lansing McLoskey's Zealot Canticles. The ensemble won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance in 2018 for Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century, and was nominated the year before for its recording of Thomas Lloyd's, Bonhoeffer.
Donald Nally is artistic director of The Crossing and the John W. Beattie Chair of Music at Northwestern University. He has served as chorus master at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Welsh National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and, for many seasons, at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He's the recipient of the 2017 Michael Korn Founders Award and the 2012 Louis Botto Award from Chorus America. His ensembles have twice won Margaret Hillis Award for Excellence in Choral Music: in 2002 with the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia and in 2015 with The Crossing. This season he is a Resident Visiting Artist at the Park Avenue Armory.
