06/02/2023
So grateful to be a part of this. I also want to thank Dante Portella and Henry Koch for their assistantace on these sessions. Congratulations to everyone at The Crossing and fellow nominees.
BORN: music of Edie Hill, composer and Michael Gilbertson (composer) – our 3rd Grammy© Award for Best Choral Performance
Donald writes:
We want to make pieces about the world we live in, and we want people to hear them - to listen, and maybe recognize themselves in our stories. This Recording Academy / GRAMMYs Award for Best Choral Performance brings all that together: Edie's raw, thoughtful piece about extinct birds, Michael's searching, wrenching work about the complexities of our relationships and love, as told through the tale of Jonathan and David, and the work that my husband Steven and I commissioned from Michael in memory of my mother - on a text that ponders motherhood and the roles of women in the lives of men. In Born, Spectral Spirits, and Returning, these composers capture the nuances in the insightful texts of Wislawa Szymborska, Kai Hoffman-Kroll, and Holly Hughes, all narrating the "now." We're happy also to see the signature artwork of Christopher St. John seen by many more, the precise producing of Kevin Vondrak and Paul Vazquez (Digital Mission Audio Services) recognized, and the nearly unimaginable artistic feasts of our singers – the Alpha and Omega of The Crossing. Thankful for our staff and board for getting us to every finish, to the folks at PARMA Recordings / Navona Records, our full recording team which includes Dante Portella, Henry Koch, and The High Point at St. Peter's, and for everyone who listens to our music. We're humbled not just by the affirmation of the Recording Academy members, but also by the company we keep in the nominated ensembles: The The Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir Choir. What a journey! We are grateful.
Full album story, streaming, and album purchase at https://www.crossingchoir.org/album-stories/born
