The Crossing Tours IN A HOUSE BESIEGED To Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia

Grammy Award-winning choir The Crossing, led by conductor Donald Nally, performs In a House Besieged on Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:30pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, OH; Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 3:00pm at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA; and on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 7:00pm at St. Mark's Church in Philadelphia, PA, presented by Penn Live Arts.

The concerts feature The Crossing and Scott Dettra in the world premiere of Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop's In a House Besieged, commissioned by the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as The Crossing in Lansing McLoskey's The Memory of Rain and Arvo Pärt's Salve Regina.

Stacy Garrop's In a House Besieged fuses the writings of American short-story writer, novelist, and essayist Lydia Davis into a unique libretto reflecting the fear and anxiety around the aging process. Davis's texts ask the question, "We see our homes and the world around us crumble and decay with time; can we admit that our bodies and minds will do the same?" Through her mastery of choral textures, Garrop ponders, "Is our topic a crumbling society, cognitive collapse, moral deprivation, or the devastating disintegration of our environment?"

The piece presents five stories over the course of as many movements, each highlighting various aspects of the aging process. Two additional fragments woven between these movements serve as a prologue, a series of interludes, and an epilogue. One fragment consists of the sounds someone makes while trying to recall how to pronounce the word "woman." The other fragment, when fully heard at the end of the piece, illustrates the rising apprehension a person experiences with the onset and progression of dementia.

Tom Welsh, Director of Performing Arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art, notes, "The Cleveland debut of The Crossing will be especially meaningful to us, as Stacy Garrop's piece is dedicated to the memory of our longtime friend Robert G. Schneider. Bob was for many years the president of the Musart Society, longtime supporters of music in the museum, and Stacy's work is written for his two great loves - choir and organ."

Though just a few hours away from its home in Philadelphia, The Crossing's performance at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, part of their 29th annual Music in a Great Space Concert Series, will be the ensemble's Pittsburgh debut. The final concert of the tour at St. Mark's Church in Philadelphia, presented by Penn Live Arts, is a returning home of sorts, as it was the site of The Crossing's first concert in November 2005.

The program also includes Lansing McCloskey's The Memory of Rain, based on poems by 2011 U.S. poet laureate Philip Levine that was premiered by The Crossing at The Month of Moderns 2010, its annual summer festival of new music. The program includes the introspective Salve Regina by the Estonian spiritual minimalist, Arvo Pärt.

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Program Information
In a House Besieged
Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:30pm
Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art | Cleveland, OH
Tickets: $30-45
Link: www.crossingchoir.org/events/2021-22/house-besieged-cleveland

Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 3:00pm
Shadyside Presbyterian Church | Pittsburgh, PA
Tickets: $15
Link: www.crossingchoir.org/events/2021-22/house-besieged-pittsburgh

Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 7:00pm
St. Mark's Church | Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $35
Link: www.crossingchoir.org/events/2021-22/house-besieged-philly

Program:
Stacy Garrop - In a House Besieged [World Premiere]*
Lansing McLoskey - The Memory of Rain (from The Month of Moderns 2010)
Arvo Pärt - Salve Regina

*Commissioned by the Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom Welsh, Director of Performing Arts, Music and Film; with generous support of the Musart Society, in honor of Robert G. Schneider. Written for The Crossing, Donald Nally, and Scott Dettra.

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