Molly Alicia Barth, flutes

Michael J. Macaferrri, clarinets

Matthew Albert, violin

Nicholas Phontinos, cello

Matthew Duval percussion

Lisa Kaplan, piano

‍

eighth blackbird was named the winner of the 2000 Naumburg Chamber Music Award making their Lincoln Center as Naumburg artists on March 5, 2002 in Alice Tully Hall. The March 5, 2002 concert included the world premiere of a Naumburg commisioned work for eight blackbird, Critical Moments 2 (2001) by George Perle.

eighth blackbird "soundfest" (Lincoln Center debut)

March 5, 2002, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

Special guest, Mario Batali, narrator

Program

Minimum Security Composers Collective: Minimum Security Trailer (2000) New York premiere

George Perle: Critical Moments 2 (2001) World premiere, Naumburg commission (in nine movements)

Aaron Jay Kernis: Le quattre stagioni dalla cucina futurismo ("The Four Seasons of Futuristic Cuisine") (1991)

Daniel Kellog: Divinum Mysterium (2000)

Of his work, George Perle wrote: "The instrumentation of these nine short, self-contained, and strikingly individual movements for six players corresponds to that of Pierrot lunaire, except for the substitution of percussion part for the quasi-spoken (Sprechstimme) vocal part of Schoenberg's work. I had taken much pleasure in the composition of a set of six such pieces in 1995-96, and was already strongly inclined to undertake such a project again when an unexpected commission from the Naumburg Foundation gave me an opportunity to do exactly that for eighth blackbird."

Review Excerpt: New York Times, Anthony Tommasini "Cuisine and Radiclism Mix As Youth Has Its Evening" (March 2002)

Eighth Blackbird is the ensemble's name; ambition is its hallmark

"The six musicians who make up the impressively successful ensemble eighth blackbird are young, hip, confident and ambitious. They are also very good instrumentalists (on violin, cello, piano, clarinets, flutes and percussion). Naturally, they are drawn to music by composers who are young, hip, confident and ambitious.

Thanks to a Naumburg commission, the ensemble gave the premiere of George Perle's absorbing and beautiful "Critical Moments 2" the work of a master now 86...this was music at once delicate and fidgety, by turns rigourously contrapuntal and breezily atmospheric... It was exciting, and at times endearing, to see these fine performers so involved with works they clearly love as well."

‍eighth blackbird bio from 2002

Hailed as ambassadors of new music, eighth blackbird ha a growing reputation for its astounding musical versatility and for its dedication to the works of today's composers. The sextet, currently ensemble in residence at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, was honored in 2000 with the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the first BMI/Boudleaux-Bryant Fund Commission. The sextet was recently awarded commissioning works by Randolph Coleman and Daniel Kellog to its repertoire, and in 1998 it became the first contemporary music ensemble to win first prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, where it was also awarded the Rockport Chamber Music Festival Prize. The ensemble has also claimed the 1998 and 2000 CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. In 1996, the year it was founded at the Oberlin Conservatory, eighth blackbird was awarded first prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. Round Nut Took, eighth blackbird's debut CD, was released in 1999.

During the 1998-99 season eighth blackbird made its New York debut at Merkin Concert Hall. The ensemble was featured on CBS' Sunday Morning, and consequently received an invitation from the American Symphony Orchestra League to perform at its annual conference and participate in a symposium on new music led by Ara Guzelimian and Joan Tower. The ensemble's 2000-2001 season featured an extensive residency at the University of Iowa and performances at New York City's Miller Theater and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as a tour to South Korea. The 2001-02 season featured residencies and performances throughout the United States.

eighth blackbird is active in teaching young artists about contemporary music and has taught master classes and conducted outreach activities in the art of contemporary performance and interpretation. The ensemble has performed educational outreach at the Aspen Music School, the LaJolla Chamber Music series, and the Candlelight Concert series.

Several eminent composers, most notably Fred Rzewski and John Musto, have dedicated works to eighth blackbird. The ensemble's extensive repertoire include works by many of the great composers of our time, including Michael Torke, George Crumb, William Bolcom, Phiip Glass, Aaron Jay Kernis, Arnold Schoenberg, and David Lang, as well as David Schober, Daniel Kellog, Paul Moravec and Charles Sanchez-Guterriez.

eight blackbird derives its name from the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." The eighth stanza reads:

I know noble accents

And lucid, inescapable rhythms;

But, I know, too,

That the blackbird is involved

In what I know

On October 8, 2021, eighth blackbird took part in Naumburg's 50th anniversary chamber music celebratory concert that took place in New York's Town Hall.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍