Donald Nally collaborates with creative artists, leading orchestras, and art museums to make new works for choir that address social and environmental issues. He has commissioned over 200 works and, with his ensemble The Crossing, has produced 39 recordings, winning 4 Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance, while nominated eleven times. The Crossing was Musical America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year and regularly tours Europe and the United States in venues such as Disney Hall, the National Gallery, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Finnish National Opera, the Baltic Sea Festival, Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Park Avenue Armory.

Donald has held distinguished tenures as chorus master for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Welsh National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and for many seasons at Il festival dei due mondi in Spoleto, Italy. He has prepared choruses for the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the
BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Donald works closely with the artists Allora & Calzadilla and composer David Lang on projects in museums of London, Porto, Cordoba, Edmonton, Houston, Osaka, and Philadelphia. He has been visiting resident artist at the Park Avenue Armory and music director of The Mile-Long Opera, David Lang’s 1000-voice work on The High Line in Manhattan. Two of his projects have been preserved by the National Archives of The Library of Congress as cultural artifacts, both responding to the 2020 pandemic: his 72-chapter series Rising w/ The Crossing, and Carols after a Plague, with contributions from 12 composers.

Recent collaborations include the Swedish Radio Choir, Klockriketeatern at the Finnish National Opera, Musikgebouw (Amsterdam), the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, the Big Ears Festival, the Haarlem KoorBiënnale, and various projects at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Donald is a frequent guest artist/teacher at universities, including Yale, Harvard, the Curtis Institute, the University of Chicago, Indiana University, Notre Dame, UNC Chapel Hill, and Boston Conservatory.

Donald is the John W. Beattie Chair of Music Emeritus at Northwestern University. This season he is Visiting Professor of Choral Studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and Visiting Professor at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

Contact: Chelsea Lyons: chelsea@crossingchoir.org

The Crossing is a professional chamber choir, conducted by Donald Nally, that sings only new music, bringing together creative teams to imagine, present, and record new, substantial works for choir that look at the world and our place in it. Often using a journalistic approach to text curation, The Crossing commissions music that explores and expands ways of writing for choir, singing in choir, and listening to music for choir; many of its nearly 200 commissioned premieres address social, environmental, and political issues. With a commitment to recording, The Crossing has issued 39 albums, receiving four Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance (2018, 2019, 2023, 2025), and eleven Grammy nominations in ten consecutive years.

The Crossing collaborates with some of the world’s most accomplished ensembles, artists, and venues: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, Disney Hall, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Allora & Calzadilla, Bang on a Can, Klockriketeatern, International Contemporary Ensemble, Cleveland Museum of Art, Menil Collection in Houston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, The Big Sing (formerly Koorbiënnale) in The Netherlands, Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, The Kennedy Center in Washington, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent university residencies include Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago, Iowa, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Notre Dame. The Crossing’s tours have taken it to the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Gabriella Ortiz’s Revolución Diamantina, Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam with Shara Nova’s Titration; Cincinnati, Ithaca, and the University of Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium with commissioned works of Jennifer Higdon, Caroline Shaw, Edie Hill, and Ayanna Woods; Haarlem (The Netherlands) and Caramoor Center for Music and Arts with Ted Hearne’s Farming, which premiered outdoors on a farm in Bucks County, PA; Helsinki and The Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm with Robert Maggio’s Aniara; Carnegie Hall with the world premiere of John Luther Adams’ Vespers of the Blessed Earth with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Lincoln Center with two works of Julia Wolfe with the New York Philharmonic – Fire in my Mouth (2019) and unEarth (2023) – and Lincoln, New York, Philadelphia, Iowa City, Des Moines, with David Lang’s poor hymnal, which will go to the Greenville, SC and the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville later this season, then premiere as a staged work in January 2027 at the University of Richmond and UNC Chapel Hill. The Crossing, with Donald Nally, was Musical America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year, the American Composers Forum’s 2017 Champion of New Music, and 2015 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from Chorus America.

The Crossing is represented by Alliance Artist Management and Luzi Media.
www.crossingchoir.org
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Contact: frank@luzi.media

Described as “exhilarating” by The New York Times and “utterly mesmerizing” by The Guardian, the GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion champions living composers through its unwavering dedication to contemporary chamber music. In 2011, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney were brought together by their love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together; they have since captivated audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning. Today, the foursome are established leaders in contemporary and late-20th-century music for percussion, engaging a wider audience for classical music through multidisciplinary collaborations with leading composers and artists.

In 2024, Sandbox Percussion became the first percussion ensemble to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Also in 2024, the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress awarded a commission to composer Andy Akiho and Sandbox Percussion.

The 2021 album Seven Pillars, featuring Akiho’s title piece, was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards — Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The feature-length work, which is “as pure as music gets” (The New York Times), includes stage direction and lighting design by Michael Joseph McQuilken. It is Sandbox Percussion’s largest commission to date. Sandbox Percussion also commissioned 11 short films to accompany each movement, and has performed the full piece throughout the United States and Europe, including at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris with the L.A. Dance Project and choreographer Benjamin Millepied. In October, Sandbox Percussion performs Seven Pillars at the Beijing Music Festival in the group's China debut. They will also perform the piece at select dates throughout the 2024-25 season, including at San Francisco Performances in January.

This season, Sandbox Percussion and the Tyshawn Sorey Trio collaborate on a special Max Roach tribute. Together, the two groups explore the extraordinary legacy of jazz pioneer Max Roach, who was born 100 years ago, with the multi-instrumentalist Sorey, pianist Aaron Diehl, and bassist Harish Raghavan. Each group will perform its own set first, highlighting Roach’s impact across musical worlds, followed by the world premiere of a new composition by Sorey in honor of Roach’s groundbreaking ensemble M’Boom, with the groups joining forces as a septet. The shows will take place in Washington, D.C. (Library of Congress), Newark (New Jersey Performing Arts Center), Columbus (Wexner Performing Arts Center), and at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

Sandbox Percussion recently teamed up with the acclaimed composer Michael Torke, who created the hour-long piece BLOOM for the group. The piece uses a series of interlocking rhythms to create complex grooves, using both pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments. The world premiere of BLOOM will take place in December at Tishman Auditorium, at The New School, New York City.

In October, Sandbox Percussion performs at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, collaborating with the London-based Gandini Juggling. At Trinity Church Wall Street, in New York City, Sandbox Percussion joins the Choir of Trinity Wall Street for a performance of Gabriel Kahane’s Emergency Shelter Intake Form, an oratorio about homelessness in America. Over the season, Sandbox Percussion will also perform music by Caroline Shaw, Viet Cuong, Julius Eastman, Simeon ten Holt, Gabriella Smith, Paola Prestini, Doug Cuomo, Carla Kihlstedt, and Yotam Haber.

Sandbox Percussion recently recorded percussion music for its first feature film: The Wild Robot, an animated science fiction survival film produced by DreamWorks and directed by Chris Sanders, with original music by the composer, pianist, and director Kris Bowers. The movie is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on September 27.

The first recording of Lifeline, a vibrant percussion quartet composed by Ellis Ludwig-Leone for Sandbox Percussion, will be released on the album Past Life / Lifeline in December, on Better Company Records. Sandbox Percussion gave the world premiere of Lifeline at the 92nd Street Y last January. A new album featuring music by Christopher Cerrone will be released in February on PENTATONE Records. Featuring pianist Conor Hanick and mezzo soprano Elspeth Davis, the album consists of four works for percussion quartet that Sandbox Percussion spent years developing with the composer, including Ode To Joy, co-commissioned by the group in 2023. The album celebrates Sandbox Percussion’s
long-standing collaboration with Cerrone. The world-premiere recording of Torke’s BLOOM was released in August 2024 via Ecstatic Records.

Last season, Sandbox Percussion performed at the Park Avenue Armory, at the 92nd Street Y; and at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with the praised new-music performers Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish, and Alisa Weilerstein. Sandbox Percussion also continued to champion Re(new)al, Viet Cuong’s green energy- and environment-themed concerto for percussion quartet, including performances with the Des Moines Symphony and with the Albany Symphony, which commissioned the piece.

Besides maintaining an international performance schedule, Sandbox Percussion holds the positions of ensemble-in-residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The New School’s College of Performing Arts, where they have created a curriculum with entrepreneurship and chamber music at its core. Starting in the 2024-25 season, Sandbox Percussion will also be on faculty at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

The quartet has led masterclasses and coachings at prestigious music schools across the United States, including Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, the Yale School of Music, and the Peabody Institute.

In 2016, Sandbox Percussion founded the Sandbox Percussion Seminar — a weeklong seminar that invites percussion students from around the globe to rehearse and perform today’s leading repertoire for percussion chamber music. In 2022, Sandbox Percussion launched their Creator Mentorship Program, a commissioning program that solicits proposals from early-career creators around the world. The selected creators are commissioned to create a new work for the ensemble, and they receive time, space, and funding for a yearlong workshop and development period.

Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.

Praised for his “spectacular performances” (Wall Street Journal), and his “unfailing virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), GRAMMY®-nominated percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years.

As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Rosenbaum has premiered over one hundred new chamber and solo works. He has collaborated with and championed the music of established and emerging composers alike.

Mr. Rosenbaum was nominated for three GRAMMY® awards in 2021 for his performances on albums of music by Andy Akiho and Christopher Cerrone, including two nominations for Seven Pillars, an album by Sandbox Percussion released on Aki Rhythm Productions, a record label that Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Akiho founded in 2021.

In 2012 Mr. Rosenbaum joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) as only the second percussionist they have selected in their history, and has performed regularly with CMS since then.

Highlights of the 2021-2022 season include the world premiere of Seven Pillars by Andy Akiho with Sandbox Percussion, a collaboration with the Borromeo String Quartet at the New England Conservatory, performances with pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nick Cannellakis, and a performance of George Crumb’s seminal work Ancient Voices of Children with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Mr. Rosenbaum is a founding member of Sandbox Percussion, the Percussion Collective, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has recorded for the Bridge, Innova, Naxos, and Starkland labels and is on faculty at the Mannes School of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mr. Rosenbaum endorses Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth mallets, and Remo drumheads.

Jonny Allen is a Brooklyn based percussionist whose contagious passion for music has been described as “a demonstration of raw power, virtuosity and feeling” by The New York Times. Jonny has won prizes at both the International Chamber Music Competition and the International Marimba Competition in Salzburg, giving respective performances at Carnegie Hall and Schloss Hoch in Flachau, Austria. He has also performed as a drum set soloist with Ghana’s National Symphony Orchestra at the National Theatre in Accra.

Outside of Sandbox, Jonny performs regularly with his jazz trio, Triplepoint, the Percussion Collective, and is a founding Core Member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC). He is also a committed educator, co-directing the NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar each summer, holding a position as Percussion Director at Choate Rosemary Hall, as well as giving workshops and masterclasses worldwide. Jonny holds a Bachelor’s degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, as well as a Masters degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music.

Terry Sweeney is an avid chamber musician and collaborator. In addition to Sandbox Percussion, Terry is a member of quaquaqua, and The Percussion Collective and has performed over 250 concerts across the United States.Recent projects include a world premiere of Seven Pillars, a percussion quartet by Andy Akiho, QUIXOTE – a multi-year collaboration with the theatrical ensemble HOWL, and a world premiere piano/percussion quintet by Chris Cerrone. Terry’s 2021/2022 season will feature world premieres by composers: Jessica Meyer, Tawnie Olson, Loren Loiacono, Molly Joyce, Tyshawn Sorey, and David Crowell.

Sandbox released their debut album And That One Too on Coviello Classics in 2020. In 2021, Sandbox released Seven Pillars which was subsequently nominated for two GRAMMY® awards.

As an educator, Terry directs the percussion studies for the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, is a faculty member at the University of Missouri Kansas City, co-directs the NYU-Sandbox Seminar, and during the 2019 Spring semester was a visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts. Terry holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music and endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.

Victor Caccese is a founding member of the Brooklyn-based percussion quartet, Sandbox Percussion and a GRAMMY® nominated percussionist. As a member of Sandbox, Victor has performed over 150 concerts worldwide and taught at institutions such as University of Missouri – Kansas City, The Peabody Conservatory, The Curtis Institute, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, University of Kansas, and University of Massachusetts Amherst. Victor has collaborated with composers such as Amy Beth Kirsten, Andy Akiho,
David Crowell, James Wood, John Luther Adams, and Thomas Kotcheff. In the Fall of 2021, along with Sandbox Percussion, Victor will give the world premiere of an evening-length work by Andy Akiho entitled Seven Pillars. Next summer Victor will teach and perform at the seventh annual NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar, a chamber music festival accepting students from around the world to study and perform some of today’s leading contemporary percussion pieces.

Also a composer and arranger, Victor has written a number of pieces for percussion. His works have been performed by Sandbox Percussion more than 50 times throughout the United States. While music and percussion is at the core of his professional life, Victor has also worked as a photographer and videographer. As head of media and content development for Sandbox Percussion, he has developed and maintained a YouTube presence consisting of performance videos, workshop documentaries, and travel vlogs.

Victor holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music. He is also a member of The Percussion Collective, a stunning ensemble founded by performer and pedagogue Robert van Sice. Victor serves on faculty at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory as a percussion instructor and ensemble-in-residence with Sandbox Percussion. He also is on faculty at the Mahanaim School for Music in Huntington, NY and was a visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Sandbox Percussion as the ensemble in residence in the Fall of 2019. Victor endorses Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth drumsticks, Remo drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, and Black Swamp
accessories.