Time - The Crossing

The Crossing are performing at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill on Sunday, October 25, with the main feature of the evening being Nicholas Cline. The program centers on The Sea Came Up and Drowned, which is receiving its East Coast premiere here in Philadelphia. It's a new work, and this is the first time it's being performed on this side of the country.

Sharing the bill is Joshua Stamper, whose piece 'mid the steep sky's commotion rounds out the program. Between the two, you'll get a full evening of choral music, with Cline's new work taking the lead. If you're not familiar with The Crossing, they're a professional choir known for taking on challenging, contemporary choral music, and this pairing fits that mold.

One thing that sets this apart from a standard concert is the preconcert talk. It starts at 4 PM, a full hour before the music begins, and it's a good chance to get some context on the pieces before you hear them. If you're the kind of person who likes to know what's going on behind the scenes or what the composers were thinking, it's worth arriving early for that. If you'd rather just walk in and listen, you can skip it and head straight to the performance.

The concert itself runs from 5 PM to 7 PM, so you're in and out in a couple of hours. If you do the talk, you'll be there from 4 PM through 7 PM. The whole thing is at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia on Sunday, October 25.