Motion Studies

w/ Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone

Justine F. Chen, Shallow Breath and Stealth (world premiere)
Nicholas Cline, Watersheds
Gabriel Kahane, excerpt from We are the Saints (East Coast premiere)
David Lang, we were (world premiere) & the sense of senses 

Sunday, November 21, 2021
@ 5pm
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia

Pre-concert talk with Donald, Justine, and Nick at 4pm in the Burleigh Cruikshank Memorial Chapel

Please note: Masks and proof of vaccination are required to attend "Motion Studies." Masks must be worn at all times while indoors at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. Vaccination card will be checked by front of house staff prior to entry into the Sanctuary. The choir will sing unmasked.

Wherever we are, we leave a trace:
trackable data reveals and betrays us.

A concert of premieres digging deep into 21st-century American life. Justine’s Shallow Breath and Stealth is based on Jena Osman’s prismatic poem Motion Studies, which follows a couple hoping to shake off spiderwebs of data to live surveillance-free in a world that accepts the ubiquitous surveillance of unwilling citizens. Sax legend, Matthew Levy, joins us for Nick’s Watersheds, a work fueled by the words of eloquent, outspoken environmental thinkers on how our shared spaces are created not by political borders, but by the flow of water. Tying the program together is the East Coast premiere of the final movement of Gabriel Kahane's We are the Saints (considering our relationship to nature and connecting with Nick's work), as well as two commissioned works from David Lang based on his ongoing, deeply introspective ruminations on The Song of Songs – all three written for The Crossing.

Are the lights on in this room?
Are you now sitting down?
Did you ever make a promise that you had no intention of keeping?
Did you participate in placing that bomb near the road?