he Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally, returns to Navona Records with MOTION STUDIES: Justine Chen’s Shallow Breath and Stealth and Nicholas Cline’s watersheds. Reflecting on a culture where data mining and government traceability have become normalized to the point of population complacency, Chen captures poet Jena Osman’s musings on the 21st-century reframing of paranoia, privacy, and the pervasive desire to run away from the data that follows us. Evidence of these reflections is present in the tittering, sometimes whispering, sometimes soaring, and often frantic utterances of the ensemble in an unnerving collection of sequences that paint an antagonistic image of the modern machine. In Nicholas Cline’s watersheds motion is boundary rather than escape: the movement of water is a point of political power, of conservation and waste, of replenishment, and of damage and territorialism. Joined by PRISM Quartet leader Matthew Levy on tenor saxophone, The Crossing’s signature crystalline sound ebbs and flows as they sing the history of water in America, placing opposing views and theories next to each other, and yet never forgetting the simple, joyful experience of rain. Cline’s musical landscapes are gentle; they seem to carry hope and gratitude in topics otherwise causing angst and worry. A 2024 Best Choral Performance GRAMMY® nominee and multi-GRAMMY® winning ensemble, The Crossing continually proves itself to be at the forefront of new choral literature and performance. MOTION STUDIES is a release not to be missed.
