Thyestes (text from Seneca's Thyestes), commissioned by The Crossing Choir in Philadelphia, was just premiered by them in Philadelphia (June 2011). Magical effects, by accident or design, gave audiences some heady contradictions to wrestle with at the Month of Moderns festival Saturday by the Crossing choir. As Kamran Ince's Thyestes ended, someone brushed a light switch, plunging Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill into darkness but for the bulbs on the singers' music stands. It was strangely appropriate: The Turkish American Ince took on a grisly text from the ancient Seneca play Thyestes, about the chaos of the universe's dismembering mankind, with musical choices curiously devoid of hysteria, punctuated by choral exhalations suggesting disillusionment beyond words. Sophisticated vocal constructs grew like sand castles destined to collapse - words from a corrupt Roman era, music from 2011, a time of uncertain economy and waning humanitarian loyalty. Still, you didn't expect the earth beneath them to vanish into an abyss. And the lights' going out? It felt like an act of God underscoring an exposé of hopelessness. David Patrick Stearns Philadelphia Inquirer Classical Music Critic Ince’s “Thyestes” sets one of those ancient Greek legends that reveal the primitive barbarism at the foundation of western civilization. One can only wonder if such events ever really took place and, if so, whatever can be learned from their retelling. All the same, Ince’s unaccompanied score is a masterpiece of concise structure, eloquent word‐setting, evocative harmonies, and exquisite voicings. Michael Caruso NOTEWORTHY/Chestnut Hill LOCAL Back