Meet Donald Nally

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donald Nally and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donald, how do you think about risk?
I take a lot of risks and some of them don’t turn out great and I don’t care, because you have to try a lot of things before you find “the thing” and “the thing” may not last all that long. That’s not just in art; I’m like that in life. I’ve had a lot of great jobs and I’ve quit (nearly) every one of them. I have a rule that when I feel I’ve given what I can and gained what I can, I move on. And sometimes that’s been amazing – because once the door closes some other really interesting door opens – and sometimes that’s been perplexing because I’ve had to build something new. The exception: I haven’t moved on from The Crossing, because the work is ever-new. When you’re commissioning new pieces all the time, you never know what you’re going to get, or how it should be presented, or what is the right sound world, or how to make it legible to an audience on a first read. You have to discover all that through its development, study, rehearsal, performance. My parental models were not risk-takers and it somehow produced in me the opposite worldview; when I see a pool, I tend to dive in the deep end and figure out how to get back out later. I don’t recommend that for everyone. You have to be kind of selfish and very clear about your personal goals and reasons for being, since the universe is never going to provide us with a reason for being. But risk-taking also allows me to gain a better understanding of others, to have more empathy for them – maybe I would go as far as to say risk-taking has taught me to calm down and love people with a greater understanding of what that means.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
About my art: I am a musician who has been fortunate to work in many areas of my specialty, which is choral music. I have spent many years in different professional choral genres: opera, symphonic chorus, Anglican church music, university choirs, chamber choirs, and new-music choirs. A lot of the universe’s speaking to me over the years has led to the latter and I am deeply involved with composition and composers.

What sets us apart: I, with my ensemble The Crossing, commission more choral music than any other similar community in the United States. With 33 albums, we also record more than any other active choir. I don’t say that to boast; just, what sets us apart among our peers. To that point, our default ‘sound’ – the color at the base of my choirs’ timbre – is also pretty unique; people either love it or hate it. That color is just me being me – us being us.

Professional stature: I’m not sure what it would be like to easily achieve professional stature in music, or in life. Life is amazing but challenging. Love is awesome and terrible. Grief isn’t fun. It all adds up, I guess, so I’d say that “how I got here,” wherever ‘here” is (since success in a really niche area of music is hard to measure), is that my friends and I work really hard and we love the work and it never gets stale.

Lessons: There are no emergencies in music.
We’re in the entertainment business, it’s about connection.
Investment in other things besides music is a good thing; like friends and relationships. I’m terrible at those but I’ve gotten a lot better as I’ve gotten older. I’m happier as a result.

What I want the World to Know: I love telling stories and the one I’m most interested in is the one we’re all living right now. So, I would like to leave a record of our time, journalistically, musically, vocally – not for legacy, but because I’m glad that composers before us did that and we’re grateful. As the conductor, I won’t be remembered. I’m fine with that. For me, it’s: “We are here and this is what it feels like to be here.”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As I get older, my country roots call me increasingly out of the city. Still, I know a local list would include the Barnes Foundation; the Philadelphia Museum of Art modern collection; their new-ish Forum, and whatever is going on over at their Perelman Building; a walk along the Wissahickon in Fairmount Park (beginning at Kitchen Lane), a little French café (breakfast/lunch) at 23rd and Lombard called Café Lutecia (tomato/mozzarella/basil baguette), a bar in Mt. Airy called Lyzette (Manhattans), another in Chestnut Hill called Tavern on the Hill (fried portabella mushroom fingers), perhaps what’s showing at the Arden Theater, choral evensong at St. Mark’s Locust Street, a drive up the Delaware to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve with a stop in Lambertville or Yardley for a meal, takeout at Cin-Cin – also in Chestnut Hill.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my Shoutout to my former graduate students. They helped me codify ideas and better articulate my worldview, while influencing that worldview through their insights, perspectives, and many moments of brilliance.

Website: https://www.crossingchoir.org/

Instagram: @thecrossingchoir

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-crossing-choir/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crossingchoir

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCrossingChoir

Other: Listen to us on all major music streaming platforms.

Image Credits
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