Our Third Grammy Award
BORN: music of Edie Hill and Michael Gilbertson
What knits us 
to the soul of another 
the way dusk light becomes 
a part of darkness returning 

This question dominates a good portion of our album, 
winner of the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance 
(and our third Grammy, announced yesterday
at the 65th annual Grammy Awards in LA!). 

That’s a humbling sentence to read. 
Three. 
In seven years of nominations.
(And, we keep good company: congrats to fellow nominees Yannick Nézet-Séguin, The Met Orchestra and Chorus, John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir!) 

What connects to a life 
more than our own?

It’s not about the win, the statue, all the many congratulatory notes.
(Yow! thank you for those!)
It’s about listening.
All the people who will listen to the music of Edie Hill and Michael Gilbertson 
because The Recording Academy recommends they do that!
(A reminder that you can stream BORN on Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal
and purchase a physical CD here.)

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 Grammy brings all that together: relevance and relationships.

So, we are truly grateful 
and we have many, many people to thank. 
The composers, our board and staff, the producing team, the authors, our engineer, our label, our album art creator, our management, our home audience that supports our crazy ideas, our friends who host singers in their homes, 
and everyone who listens to our music. 

Above all, we thank those making the music: 
The singers of The Crossing.
The Alpha and Omega of The Crossing. 
What we do. Why we exist.

OK, here’s the long list of thanks…we’re a big community.
And it takes a lot of people to make a record!
BORN: music of Edie Hill and Michael Gilbertson

Born, by Michael Gilbertson
words of Wislawa Szymborska, trans. by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh
commissioned by Steven Hyder and Donald Nally in memory of Margaret Martindale Nally 
Premiered December 2017 at The Crossing @ Christmas, The Jeffrey Dinsmore Memorial Concerts, Philadelphia

Spectral Spirits, by Edie Hill
words of Holly J. Hughes (and various other authors)
commissioned by The Crossing and Donald Nally 
with generous support from John Hawthorn and Danielle Macbeth
Premiered December 2019 at The Crossing @ Christmas, The Jeffrey Dinsmore Memorial Concerts, Philadelphia and New York

Returning, by Michael Gilbertson 
Words of Kai Hoffman-Krull
commissioned by Musica Sacra NY


THE CROSSING
Katy Avery 
Nathaniel Barnett
Karen Blanchard 
Steven Bradshaw
Colin Dill
Micah Dingler
Joanna Gates
Dimitri German
Dominic German 
Steven Hyder
Michael Jones
Lauren Kelly
Anika Kildegaard
Heidi Kurtz
Chelsea Lyons
Maren Montalbano 
Rebecca Myers 
James Reese 
Daniel Schwartz
Rebecca Siler
Tiana Sorenson
Daniel Spratlan
Elisa Sutherland
Daniel Taylor
 
Donald Nally, conductor
Kevin Vondrak, assistant conductor
John Grecia and Mark Livshits, keyboards

Jonathan Bradley, executive director
Shannon McMahon, operations manager
Kevin Vondrak, assistant conductor & artistic associate
Paul Vazquez, sound designer
Elizabeth Dugan, bookkeeper
Ryan Strand, administrative assistant
Donald Nally, artistic director
Heidi Kurtz, Beth Van de Water, and Elisa Sutherland, hospitality

Kyle Sackett, personal assistant to Donald Nally
Gary Cooper, personal friend of the ensemble

Christopher St. John, artwork

The Recording Team
Paul Vazquez, Donald Nally, and Kevin Vondrak; recording producers
Paul Vazquez; recording engineer
Dante Portella and Henry Koch; assistant recording engineer
Paul Vazquez; editing, mixing, and mastering
Antonio Ruiz-Nokes and Ben Perri; production assistants

Born: Music of Edie Hill and Michael Gilbertson was recorded August 21-24, 2021 at St. Peter’s Church in the Great Valley, Malvern PA. Special thanks to Gail Malcolm. 

Navona Records
Bob Lord, executive producer
Brandon MacNeil, A&R director
Jan Košulič, VP of production 
Lucas Paquette, audio director
Brett Picknell, VP, design and marketing
Ryan Harrison, art director
Edward A. Fleming, design

Our Home
Special thanks to those providing our home, The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill: Rev. John Wilkinson, Minister; Daniel Spratlan, Director of Music; Megan Cullen, Church Administrator; Jeff DeVault, Associate Director of Music; and the entire staff and congregation.

Housing
Those who open their homes to our artists: David and Rebecca Thornburgh, Rebecca Siler, Katy Avery and Thann Scoggin, Taylor and Frank Slaughter, Corbin Abernathy and Andrew Beck, Daniel Schwartz and Mike Rowley.

The Crossing is represented by Alliance Artist Management
Rob Robbins, President
with Artemis Cheung, Jenny Palmer, Stuart Wolferman, Shane Cadman, Jessica Cimini, Mark Baylin, and Lisa C. Nuñez

Our PR team at Morahan Arts & Media
Katlyn Morahan, President
with Mallory McFarland, Leah Rankin, and Ben Youngerman
 
The Board of Directors of The Crossing
    (at the time of BORN)
Kelly Ann Bixby
Timothy V. Blair
Phil Cooke, vice president
Shawn Felton
Mary D. Hangley
Lisa Husseini
Cynthia A. Jarvis
Anika Kildegaard
Mary Kinder Loiselle
Michael M. Meloy
Donald Nally
Eric Owens
Pam Prior, treasurer
Andrew Quint
James Reese
Kim Shiley, president
Carol Loeb Shloss, secretary
John Slattery
Elizabeth Van de Water

Our Friends at WRTI
(thanks for playing our music!)
Zev Kane, Tyler McClure, Paul Marchesani, Joe Patti
New music only happens through your support.