The Crossing

The Crossing Donald Nally, conductor The Crossing Votes: 2020 a pre-election project of four new films... more at https://www.crossingchoir.org/2020 stateless music by David Lang text by David Lang, after a letter by Rabbi Moses ben Nachman film by Eric Southern art by Steven Bradshaw with Nyahzul C. Blanco audio by Paul Vazquez I left my family I left my house I left my sons and daughters my heart and my eyes will dwell with them forever and so I came to this land what can I tell you about this land? the more sacred the space the greater the devastation even in its destruction it is a good land we are all refugees here we found some ruins of a house built on pillars of marble with a marble dome we volunteered to fix the house we built a temple there many people come from all across the land they come to see what happened here those of us who have seen the land destroyed let us see the land restored and you, my children may you deserve all that is good in this world #ComeHearNow

Echoes a new amplification system @ The Crossing designed for socially-distant singing learn more at www.crossingchoir.org/echoes... This is The Crossing’s response to the time in which we live a time when singing together in conventional formats (inside, gathered closely, depending on our ears to commune, audiences within a few feet) has been proven unsafe. So, we have rethought how we do what we do: sing, listen, and connect. One product of this reimagining is Echoes*, a conduit for intimate, expressive vocal art. Developed by The Crossing’s sound designer, Paul Vazquez of Digital Mission Audio Services, each Echoes amplification kit features an individual six-foot pillar speaker and headset microphone that allow singers to sing together, outside, and safely socially distant. In-ear headphones allow for listening, and a loop pedal lets one voice transform to many; the 24 voices of The Crossing can, through looping, become a choir of over a hundred voices. Each member of the The Crossing has new roles and responsibilities; transporting their own Echoes is not unlike a turtle carries its house along with them. Singers assemble and disassemble the kit, with all equipment fitting into a backpack and carrying case, and singers expanding their roles from vocal artist to sound technician and crew. At the core of what we do is the safety of our artists; Echoes offers a level of independence that allows us to better maintain distancing during productions, while achieving the goal: singing together. Yet, Echoes is not meant to replace what we normally do; it is an extension of our collective singing, rooted in the need to adapt to new ways of gathering. The isolation of singing during the pandemic is ever-present, while the joy of finding this way to do so is equally clear. Continuing our mission to report and respond, we are commissioning works for The Crossing w/ Echoes, leading with works from Ayanna Woods and Robert Maggio for our Pre-election project, The Crossing Votes: 2020 A Pre-Election Project of 4 New Films. And continuing with a work for The Crossing @ Christmas by Matana Roberts. We will be remembering this time annually through new works composed specifically for Echoes and the extensions to our art that this system, born of challenge and determination, invites. * Ex-Covid Haptotropic Optimistic Electrophonic Sound #ComeHearNow photos by John C. Hawthorne

The Crossing Awarded $360,000 Grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in support of Farming a concert-length work by Ted Hearne...Continue reading

The Crossing Votes: 2020 a Pre-Election Project of Four New Films www.crossingchoir.org/2020 To report and respond: because words matter. ... We have been working on four new short films, with two world premieres, new sound technology, new film artists. We're excited about launching them in the eight days leading to Election Day, the day the nation comes together to determine our future. The Crossing Votes: 2020 is our small contribution to one of the largest, most protracted, and complex discussions in United States history. We hope our films speak to the time and will serve as a record of the time: We were there; we voted. #ComeHearNow #ComeVoteNow

The Crossing Votes: 2020 a Pre-Election Project of Four New Films new works of Robert Maggio, Ayanna Woods, Nicholas Cline, and David Lang addressing issues in the national discourse... leading to Election Day, November 3rd featuring Echoes a new amplification system @ The Crossing designed for socially-distant singing * * * To report and respond: because words matter. We have been working on four new short films, with two world premieres, new sound technology, new film artists. We're excited about launching them in the eight days leading to Election Day, the day the nation comes together to determine our future. The Crossing Votes: 2020 is our small contribution to one of the largest, most protracted, and complex discussions in United States history. We hope our films speak to the time and will serve as a record of the time: We were there; we voted. All four films will premiere at 5:38am ET, representing the 538 electoral votes, on the morning of their release on our website, Facebook, and Youtube. www.crossingchoir.org/2020 * * * stateless (2019) by David Lang Monday, October 26 she took his hands (2017) by Nicholas Cline Wednesday, October 28 Democracy (2020, world premiere) by Robert Maggio Friday, October 30 Shift (2020, world premiere) by Ayanna Woods Monday, November 2 #ComeHearNow All works of The Crossing Votes: 2020 were produced with social distancing; the Maggio and Woods outside, and the Lang and Cline recorded one-singer-at-time. The Maggio, Woods, and Cline were recorded and filmed at the farm of Libby Glatfelter in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The Lang was recorded at The Crossing’s home, the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All the films were conceived and conducted by Donald Nally, with Paul Vazquez of Digital Mission Audio Services as audio producer, and music assistance from Kevin Vondrak and John Grecia. The films of Woods, Maggio, and Cline are by Four/Ten Media, Evan Chapman and Kevin Eikenberg, with assistance of Nick Hughes. Echoes photos by John C. Hawthorne . Vote photos by Kevin Vondrak.

"The Forest" gets a shout-out for being "mold-breaking" in WQXR! Read about it at the link below! #ComeHearNow... Digital Mission Audio Services Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve See more

This Sunday, tune into WRTI 90.1FM at 4pm EDT for a broadcast of Zealot Canticles by Lansing McLoskey, hosted by Donald Nally. For the next 3 Sundays, we will be broadcasting recent recordings, in partnership with WRTI and hosted by Donald. Of Zealot Canticles, Donald says in an interview with Susan Lewis: ... "It was the combination of what Lansing had to say about the words and the words themselves that made me think, 'This is just the beginning of something that talks about a topic that is important in the world.' The topic of zealotry ... And the fine line between evangelism -- or belief -- and zealotry; zealotry causing people to justify actions that they would otherwise not do, or which historically the very religion which they are professing to follow tells them not to do." #ComeHearNow

Week 2 of our reimagined season on to the fourth video shoot in the last 8 days! Another one-at-a-time film, this one of Nicholas Cline’s she took his hands with our stellar team Digital Mission Audio Services and Four/Ten Media, shot in a barn on a farm in rural Pennsylvania. #ComeHearNow

"The Forest" reviewed in the Philadelphia Inquirer! "The Forest, premiered in the wooded thickets of Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope on Saturday, was among the few clear-cut successes on every level, a piece that’s not a make-do for lack of traditional concerts, but something that couldn’t have been imagined in other time and is fully realized on a high level." #ComeHearNow... Digital Mission Audio Services See more

"The Forest" previewed on 6abc Action News! Watch the video at the link below. "Windswept leaves decorate the stage of the latest production by Philadelphia's Grammy-winning choir, 'The Crossing.' However, there is no stage at all. In their next choir performance, they will plant socially-distant singers in the forest while guests stroll through an autumnal wonderland [of Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve.]" Tickets are sold out stay tuned for a film release later this fall...! #ComeHearNow Alliance Artist Management Digital Mission Audio Services

The Forest previewed in Philadelphia Inquirer "A wildflower preserve. A field of distanced singers. An artistic statement about a planet in crisis. The Crossing choir has thrown aside the concert hall and digital platform for something much more sylvan with help from an amplification system ... The aim is to reestablish 'those currently-broken relationships between singers and audience members.'" #ComeHearNow... Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve See more

Day 1 of a re-imagined season, filming a music video on Rob Maggio’s Democracy with Four/Ten Media and Digital Mission Audio Services, with a new amplification system that allows us to sing together, apart. They stand their ground, immune to merely human urges #ComeHearNow

"The Forest" previewed in WQXR! "The Crossing event in New Hope (at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve) may well connect more dots than these other events have so far, with an amplification system that brings people closer together sonically while keeping them safely distant physically. Normally, classical music is about examining the fine points of the artistic content at hand. Now we’re examining the mechanisms that bring us the music, hopefully not to bring back what we’ve... lost (not possible yet), but to replace it." At the moment we are sold out, but we will be releasing a limited number of overflow tickets this Monday at noon stay tuned! More about "The Forest" at www.crossingchoir.org/forest #ComeHearNow