Toward the Sea: A Concert for Climate Change Awareness, reflects on the urgency for environmental protection of the ocean and features music inspired by the sea. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Oceana, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the world's oceans.This immersive performance is designed for the unique acoustics of All Souls Unitarian Church – the same church that Herman Melville attended in the 19th century.

Co-curated by James Blachly and EXO Creative Partner Catherine Gregory, the concert includes Grammy®-winning soprano Sarah Brailey singing Blachly’s songs Delight and Insular Tahiti, commissioned for All Souls Unitarian Church with texts drawn from Moby Dick; frequent EXO collaborator, violinist and composer Michelle Ross’s meditative compositions The Whale Song and The Whale's Shadow; a reimagined version of Maurice Ravel’s Une barque sur l’ocean performed by pianist David Kaplan with strings surrounding the audience; Toru Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea II with Catherine Gregory and virtuoso harpist Bridget Kibbey (a piece commissioned by Greenpeace and inspired by Moby Dick); and a performance of Welsh composer Grace Williams’s energetic Sea Sketches, a little known tour-de-force for string orchestra and a reflection of the sea’s power.

The concert concludes with George Crumb’s landmark work Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for Three Masked Players (Electric Flute, Electric Cello and Amplified Piano) featuring Catherine Gregory, flute; Mihai Marica, cello; and David Kaplan, piano.

Catherine Gregory, EXO Creative Partner on this project, says “I am thrilled to work with EXO as a Creative Partner. Our November 2nd concert, In the Deep: Whale Songs, is a musical homage to the mysteries and beauty of the sea. Growing up on the east coast of Australia, humpback whale migration highway, I have long been in awe of these ancient marine mammals of the deep. So too was American composer, George Crumb. Upon hearing the first tape recording of their underwater ambient songs, he wrote his evocative work Vox Balaenae (“Voice of the Whale”), a modern masterpiece that transcends the time and space around its three masked players. For the musicians and audience alike, it urges us to reflect on the infinite.”

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