Three Programs, Three Weekends
Outdoors and Spatially Distanced Using Echoes Amplification Kits
June 3-6: The Forest at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope
June 11-13: The World Premiere of Matana Roberts’ “we got time.”, a Work Honoring the Life of Breonna Taylor, Presented with Ars Nova Workshop at The Woodlands in West Philadelphia
June 18-19: The World Premieres of Wang Lu’s At which point and an expanded version of Ayanna Woods’ Shift, and the U.S. Premiere of David Lang’s the sense of senses at Awbury Arboretum in Germantown
Click here to see the full news release about all three performances.
Tickets are $35 each. Visit AnnenbergCenter.org for tickets and information.
The Crossing
Month of Moderns 1: The Forest
The Forest, Donald Nally and Kevin Vondrak, composers
Thursday, June 3, 6:30 PM
Friday, June 4, 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 5, 4 PM
Sunday, June 6, 6:30 PM
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, 1635 River Road, New Hope
“America’s most astonishing choir” (The New York Times) reprises its sold-out concerts from October 2020 with The Forest, experienced via a bucolic stroll through the woods. Composed by Donald Nally and Kevin Vondrak and based on writings by members of The Crossing, The Forest reflects upon feelings of isolation and aloneness during the pandemic by exploring the symbiotic relationship between individual trees and the forest. This metaphor for the link between each singer and the ensemble, as well as every person and the world, reminds us that we are always deeply connected on the root level, relying on others for strength and support, contributing our energy to the health of the whole. "The melding of voice, words and technology was seamless … [a] clear-cut success 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." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
For more performance details and health and safety protocols, please visit AnnenbergCenter.org.
The Crossing
Month of Moderns 2: “we got time.”
Co-presented with Ars Nova Workshop
“we got time.”, Matana Roberts, composer – World premiere
Friday, June 11, 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 12, 3:30 PM
Sunday, June 13, 3 PM
The Woodlands, 4000 Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia
With its “gift for lending social activism poetic form,” (The New York Times) the Grammy® Award-winning new music choir The Crossing performs the world premiere of Matana Roberts’ “we got time.” which honors the life of Breonna Taylor. While winding through a historic cemetery, a surrounding collage of sound reflects on our world, positioning the loss of Taylor at its core to question the meaning of words familiar to us. Our country’s foundational documents, hymns, details about Taylor’s death and the names of countless Black women lost in similar ways form the work, seeking to bind our thoughts and actions into a greater collective. When grand jurors were told they wouldn’t be able to watch all the body camera footage due to time restraints, one juror shot back, loudly, “We! Got! Time!”
For more performance details and health and safety protocols, please visit AnnenbergCenter.org.
The Crossing
Month of Moderns 3: At which point
At which point, Wang Lu, composer – World premiere
Shift, Ayanna Woods, composer – World premiere
the sense of senses, David Lang, composer – U.S. premiere
Friday, June 18, 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 19, 6:30 PM
Awbury Arboretum, 1 Awbury Road, Germantown, Philadelphia
The Crossing, “America’s most astonishing choir,” (The New York Times) takes audiences on a thought-provoking aural journey from the rolling landscape of a historic, urban arboretum. Commissioned for this amplified outdoor performance, the world premiere of Wang Lu’s At which point explores the emotional peaks and valleys of 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner Forrest Gander’s raw, brutally honest poetry. With its “gift for lending social activism poetic form,” (The New York Times) The Crossing will also perform an expanded version of Ayanna Woods’ Shift, a multi-layered contemplation on the reimagining of our monuments. Concluding the program, the U.S. premiere of David Lang's the sense of senses explores the power of our five senses, an apt reminder as we emerge from a time when much of that human connection has been absent.
For more performance details and health and safety protocols, please visit AnnenbergCenter.org.
