eighth blackbird
Described by The New Yorker as “friendly, unpretentious, idealistic and highly skilled,” the Grammy Award-winning eighth blackbird is widely lauded for its performing style—often playing from memory with virtuosic and theatrical flair—and its efforts to make new music accessible to wide audiences. The sextet has been the subject of profiles in The New York Times and on NPR’s All Things Considered; it has also been featured on Bloomberg TV’s Muse and CBS’s Sunday Morning. In 2008 the group’s recording, strange imaginary animals, won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance.
In previous seasons eighth blackbird has appeared in South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Amsterdam, and throughout North America, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the La Jolla Chamber Music Society. They have also appeared at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, and in 2006 made their debut at the Ojai Music Festival, where the group was named music director for the 2009 season.
Since its founding in 1996, eighth blackbird has been active in commissioning new works from eminent composers such as George Perle, Frederic Rzewski, Joseph Schwantner, Paul Moravec, and Stephen Hartke, among others. The group received the first BMI/Boudleaux-Bryant Fund Commission and the 2007 American Music Center Trailblazer Award and has received grants from BMI, Meet the Composer, the Greenwall Foundation, and Chamber Music America, among others.
The members of eighth blackbird hold degrees in music performance from Oberlin Conservatory, among other institutions. The ensemble is in residence at the University of Richmond in Virginia and at the University of Chicago.
