Brewing

The twin passions of my adult life -- new music and beer -- have cropped up in my writing once again. Though it's late in coming to this forum, you can find my preview of Saturday's Garden State Beer Festival here. I was unable to attend; I was busy serving, rather than consuming, beer during the World Cup soccer matches.

In other weekend news, The Crossing, a local chamber choir dedicated to performing modern music, launched its second Month of Moderns festival yesterday, and I previewed the series and its adventurous programming here for the Courier-Post. From my discussions with director Donald Nally and several of the choir's members, the third MoM, as they call it, is already in the works. A greater presence between July and January is also planned, including a slot in Bang on a Can's Marathon, part of the Live Arts/Philly Fringe Festival and scheduled for September 12.

My rubric in highlighting Philadelphia events for a New Jersey audience is whether the attraction merits crossing the bridge, paying the toll, finding parking -- all factors for a suburban audience. This one, without question, does. I've written about the Crossing in the past, both for the Broad Street Review and here, and their performances have been consistently stirring and impressive. I was unable to attend the opener -- again, beer-dispensing duties are the reason -- but expect reports from the July 9 and 17 shows.