John Harbison has completed a new fifteen minute work for soprano, oboe, and string quartet with double bass entitled Crossroads, which premieres this summer at the La Jolla SummerFest on August 16. Crossroads was commissioned by fifteen organizations across the US and performances following the premiere are scheduled through the end of 2014. The piece contains text from ‘A Village Life,’ a collection of poetry by Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Louise Gluck, with whom John Harbison has had a long-term collaboration. Harbison describes the Crossroads project: ‘Finding the musical voice for the fresh sound of Louise’s recent work is an inspiring prospect, and I feel the combination and performers involved will be ideal in realizing the evocative and elusive texture of her poetry.’
