People of The Crossing

THE CHOIR

Walter Aldrich, Carl Alexander, Dario Amador-Lage, Nathaniel Barnett, Jessica Beebe, Kelly Bixby, Steven Bradshaw, Karen Blanchard, Aryssa Burrs, Tyrone Clinton, Matthew Cramer, Micah Dingler, Colin Dill, Ryan Fleming, Joanna Gates, Dimitri German, Sam Grosby, Michael Hawes, Michaël Hudetz, Steven Hyder, Michael Jones, Lauren Kelly, Zachary Kurzenberger, Anika Kildegaard, Chelsea Lyons, Andrew Major, Victoria Marshall, Hannah McConnell, Elijah McCormack, Jenna Hernandez McLean, Maren Montalbano, Rebecca Myers, Daniel O'Dea, Benjamin Perri, Olivia Prendergast, Jack Reeder, James Reese, Daniel Schwartz, Thann Scoggin, Rebecca Siler, Tiana Sorenson, Daniel Spratlan, Elisa Sutherland, Daniel Taylor, Jackson Williams, Shari Wilson

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 nearly 200 works and, with his ensemble The Crossing (Musical America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year), has produced thirty-four recordings, winning three Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance, while nominated nine times. 

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 many internationally recognized conductors at the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), American Composers Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. 

Donald works closely with the artists Allora & Calzadilla and composer David Lang on museum projects in 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. His 72-chapter series Rising w/ The Crossing, a response to the 2020 pandemic, has been preserved by the National Archives of The Library of Congress as a cultural artifact.

Recent projects include the Swedish Radio Choir, Klockriketeatern at the Finnish National Opera, the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, the Big Ears Festival, the Haarlem KoorBiënnale, and various projects at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Donald is a frequent guest artist/teacher at universities, including Yale, Harvard, the University of Chicago, Indiana University, Notre Dame, Westminster Choir College, and Boston Conservatory. 

The 2024-2025 season includes collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony, performances with The Crossing at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Drake University, McCarter Theater in Princeton, and Abendmusik in Lincoln; guest artist/teacher residencies at Boston University, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the University of Iowa.

Donald is the John W. Beattie Chair of Music Emeritus at Northwestern University. He is Visiting Professor of Choral Studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University during the 2024-2025 season.

For more information, please contact Chelsea Lyons: chelsea@crossingchoir.org

Shannon has been with The Crossing since 2019 and was promoted to Managing Director in 2024. She is a 2006 graduate of Drexel University’s Music Industry program where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Industry / min: Business Administration. Over the last 20 years she has held a variety of positions in Office Management, Bookkeeping, and Non-profit Operations, Development, and Marketing at organizations including Ropeadope Records, Rittenhouse String Quartet and Ensembles, Philomel Baroque Orchestra, Please Touch Museum, and New Horizons Senior Center. In addition, she has consulted for a variety of small businesses and non-profits including Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, The One Eyed Turtle, Germantown Friends School, and Healing with Hearts and Horses Therapy Practice. In her spare time Shannon loves to travel, read, kayak, and is an aspiring metalsmith and energy healer.

You can reach Shannon at shannon@crossingchoir.org

Naomi Bennett is responsible for artistic planning, production, and logistics as the Artistic Associate of The Crossing. She contributes significantly to the preparation of The Crossing’s productions at home and on the road. Naomi comes to The Crossing from Boston, MA, where she was the assistant conductor and teaching fellow of The Radcliffe Choral Society at Harvard and graduate conducting assistant at The Boston Conservatory. Naomi has guest conducted for various institutions including the Boston Latin School, Northeastern University, Villanova University, and Back Bay Chorale. Before Boston, Naomi was the director of choral music at the Coos Bay School District in Coos Bay, OR and artistic director of the Corvallis Community Choir in Corvallis, OR. A conductor, vocalist, and composer, Naomi passionately seeks out and embraces exceptional music wherever it leads her. She also plays trombone wherever she can. Naomi holds degrees from Oregon State University and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

You can reach Naomi at naomi@crossingchoir.org

Chelsea is responsible for communications and online engagement at The Crossing. She has been singing with The Crossing since 2016 and is also a member of several professional ensembles in Chicago, including the Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago a cappella, Music of the Baroque, and Stare at the Sun. She has performed as a concert soloist with Music of the Baroque, Pacific Chorale, Spektral Quartet, Madison Bach Musicians, and Chicago Master Singers. In addition to her work at The Crossing, Chelsea is a staff member at Northwestern University, where she supports choral and new-music activities at the Bienen School of Music. She is a board member of Constellation Men’s Ensemble and Stare at the Sun.  Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Music from California State University Fullerton and a Master of Music from Northwestern University.  She lives in Evanston, Illinois with her wife, Janie and their golden retriever, Phoebe.

You can reach Chelsea at chelsea@crossingchoir.org

Kevin Vondrak has been with The Crossing since 2016 and was promoted to associate conductor in 2024. He is a key part of the in-house recording team at The Crossing, and alongside co-producers Donald Nally and Paul Vazquez he won the 2023 Grammy Award, Best Choral Performance for The Crossing’s album Born. From 2017 to 2024 he was the artistic associate of The Crossing, playing a key role in preparing international tours of Aniara to the Haarlem Choral Biennale (Netherlands), Finnish National Opera (Helsinki), Berwaldhallen (Stockholm) and The Crossing's New York Philharmonic debut in Fire in my mouth, in which he conducted a preview performance at the Tenement Museum and served as auxiliary conductor at David Geffen Hall under Jaap van Zweden. His creative voice can be heard directly in The Forest, co-composed with Donald Nally for The Crossing’s first public performance in the COVID-era and featuring Echoes amplification. For The Crossing’s Knee Plays, he created original arrangements of David Byrne’s music for a staged production at the Annenberg Center. Outside of The Crossing, he has served as interim choirmaster at St. Mark's Church in Philadelphia, assistant music director of David Lang's the mile-long opera staged on The High Line, and with much pride as director of The Beaumont Chorus, a vibrant community of singing senior citizens based at The Beaumont @ Bryn Mawr.

Kevin is currently pursuing a DMA in choral conducting at Yale University's School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music while he continues his responsibilities at The Crossing. He holds degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and Northwestern University, where his original arrangement of the NU alma mater was featured in the university’s 2020 global PSA during nationally televised football broadcasts on ESPN and ABC.

You can reach Kevin at kevin@crossingchoir.org

John Grecia is responsible for holding it all together musically at The Crossing. Our accompanist since 2007, he has an active career as a pianist, organist, conductor and educator. He has served as director of music at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Ardmore, PA since January 2000. He also works as a collaborative pianist within the music departments of Saint Joseph’s University, West Chester University, and Overbrook School for the Blind. On the other side of the musical coin, John is a professional pianist, vocalist, songwriter, and frequent performer working in the Philadelphia pop/rock music scene. A debut album of original music entitled Thirteen (John Grecia Band) was released in October 2011. John maintains a busy performing schedule, playing hundreds of shows/performing engagements each year. He holds a B.S. in Music Education and a M.M. in Choral Conducting from West Chester University.

Paul Vazquez is responsible for all things audio production from sessions, concert recording, sound design or live sound needs for pieces such as The Crossing’s “The Forest”.  Always passionate about sound, he founded Digital Mission Audio Services to address the unique needs of the classical community which has since developed into his years-long collaboration with The Crossing.  Paul’s work can be heard on WYNC, WRTI concert broadcasts of The Crossing, as well as many of their notable CD releases including Grammy winners The Fifth Century, Zealot Canticles, and Born. A native of Long Island, NY, Paul now resides in Madison NJ with his wife Jennifer and children Emma and Christopher.

Paul on SoundBetter

Scott Dettra is acclaimed as one of America’s outstanding organ virtuosos. Mr. Dettra’s playing is known for its poetry, rhythmic intensity, and musical elegance, and has been described by The American Organist as “music making of absolute authority and sophisticated expression.” He combines an active performance schedule with his posts as Organist of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, and Director of the Baroque group Ensemble XIV. A native of New Castle, Delaware, Mr. Dettra holds two degrees from Westminster Choir College, where he was a student of Joan Lippincott, and has studied organ and jazz piano at Manhattan School of Music.

www.scottdettra.com