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World Premiere of Gregory Spears's The Tower and the Garden

Oct. 01, 2018

World Premiere of Gregory Spears's <em>The Tower and the Garden</em>

On October 27, The Crossing, led by Donald Nally, perform the world premiere of Gregory Spears's The Tower and the Garden, the composer's new large-scale work for choir and strings. The texts juxtapose the dangers of unchecked technological advancement (the tower) and the need for a place of refuge (the garden) in a world threatened by war and ecological disaster. Each text is written by (or about) artists who used Catholic thought or Catholic imagery to challenge the status quo including poet and Catholic activist Denise Levertov, Trappist monk and social activist Thomas Merton, and poet Keith Garebian, who paid homage to queer filmmaker Derek Jarman. The Tower and the Garden is a co-commission from The Crossing, Cantori New York, Notre Dame Vocale, and Volti and was made possible by the support of the Ann Stookey Fund for New Music. The work will be performed on November 11-12 in California by Volti, led by Robert Geary, on May 11-12 by Cantori, led by Mark Shapiro, and in Indiana by the Notre Dame Vocale, led by Carmen-Helena Téllez.

Finally, internationally-acclaimed countertenor, Anthony Roth-Costanzo, and pianist David Moody, perform arias from Gregory Spears's dance-opera, Wolf-in-Skins on the Celebrity Series of Boston at Longy on November 7. 

Listen to the finale from Gregory Spears's chamber opera Paul's Case (2013) here:


(Finale from Paul's Case/Gregory Spears/Urban Arias/Robert Wood, conductor/Kevin Newbury, director)

To learn more about Gregory Spears, please visit schott-music.com. 


Gregory Spears
The Tower and the Garden (2018)
for SATB choir and strings
30'


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