Eighth Blackbird
The sextet Eighth Blackbird devotes itself to contemporary music and has commissioned many works from modern composers. The group is notable for the range of its collaborations with other musicians, nonmusical creative artists, and musical institutions.
Comprising players of the flute, clarinet, piano, violin, cello, and percussion instruments, Eighth Blackbird was formed in 1996 by students at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. The ensemble was modeled on that of Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, which Eighth Blackbird performs, and the name comes from the Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. All six of the original members played in Oberlin's Contemporary Music Ensemble, and they credited that group's director, Tim Weiss, with Eighth Blackbird's shaping and development. In its first year, Eighth Blackbird won the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The group members moved on to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and while they were there, the ensemble won the Concert Artists Guild Competition, which brought Eighth Blackbird professional management and touring opportunities. The group's membership has been largely stable; three of the six original members remained in the group as of 2020, and original pianist Lisa Kaplan and percussionist Matthew Duvall serve respectively as executive director and artistic director.
Eighth Blackbird has undertaken a wide range of collaborations. The group has commissioned works from contemporary composers of several generations, including George Perle, Jennifer Higdon, and Bryce Dessner. It has served in a sequence of residencies, including those at Ojai Festival, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (from 2012 to 2015), and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where the members rehearsed in the galleries. The group has performed with progressive musicians, including soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Jeremy Denk. In 2017, Eighth Blackbird established its Blackbird Creative Laboratory, a two-week summer workshop for performers and composers in Ojai; the Lab, as the group calls it, spawned a new round of collaborations and events in the U.S. and Australia.
Eighth Blackbird has recorded for the Cedille, Nonesuch, and Bridge labels, among others. The group has won four Grammy awards for three albums: strange imaginary animals (two awards), Lonely Motel: Music from Slide, and Meanwhile. In 2020, Eighth Blackbird released the album Singing in the Dead of Night on Cedille, featuring music by David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Discographie
12 album(s) • Trié par Meilleures ventes
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Filament
Eighth Blackbird, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Cedille le 28 août 2015
Grammy Awards24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strange Imaginary Animals (Eighth Blackbird)
Classique - Paru chez Cedille Records le 28 nov. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Singing in the Dead of Night
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Cedille le 12 juin 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fantasyland (Live)
Glenn Kotche, Kronos Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Gamelan Galak Tika
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Cantaloupe Music le 24 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lonely Motel: Music from Slide (Steven Mackey - Rinde Eckert)
Classique - Paru chez Cedille le 6 sept. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fred (Frederic Rzewski)
Classique - Paru chez Cedille Records le 28 juin 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thirteen Ways (Eighth Blackbird)
Classique - Paru chez Cedille Records le 22 avr. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Time Gallery (The) / Protean Fantasy / Ariel Fantasy
Eighth Blackbird, Peter Sheppard Skærved, Aaron Shorr
Classique - Paru chez Naxos le 30 janv. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trembling Air
Eighth Blackbird, Nicholas Photinos, Tim Munro, Lisa Kaplan, Michael J. Maccaferri, Benjamin Broening
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Bridge Records le 1 sept. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kellogg: Divinum Mysterium / Crumb: Voice of the Whale (Daniel Kellogg - George Crumb)
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Cedille le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo