Tim Munro, flutes
Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets
Yvonne Lam, violin & viola
Nicholas Photinos, cello
Matthew Duvall, percussion
Lisa Kaplan, piano
Hailed as “friendly, unpretentious, idealistic, and highly skilled” by The New Yorker, eighth blackbird is widely lauded for its unusual performing style – often playing from memory with theatrical flair – and for its efforts to make new music accessible to wider audiences. Since its founding in 1996, the sextet has actively commissioned and recorded new works; recent commissions include a concerto from Jennifer Higdon and pieces from Steve Reich, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Steven Mackey, David Lang, Stephen Hartke, and Bruno Mantovani. The group’s CD strange imaginary animals won two Grammy Awards in 2008, including one for Best Chamber Music Performance.
Now celebrating its 15th season, eighth blackbird's 2010-11 season showcased music by the two most recent Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, with new and recent works written expressly for the ensemble by both Jennifer Higdon and Steve Reich. The ensemble curated and performed in Park Avenue Armory’s new “Tune-In” contemporary music festival in New York City. Other highlights included a return to Carnegie's Zankel Hall; performances at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art; a tour of Higdon’s new concerto On a Wire with several high-profile orchestras; Reich festivals on both sides of the Atlantic – at Carnegie Hall and at London’s Barbican Hall; a return to the Library of Congress for a concert that includes the world premiere of a new work by Stephen Hartke; and a new CD featuring Reich’s prize-winning Double Sextet.
Highlights of past seasons have included performances in South Korea, Mexico, the UK, the Netherlands, and at nearly every major chamber music venue in North America. eighth blackbird was honored in 2007 with the American Music Center’s Trailblazer Award and a Meet The Composer Award, and the group’s numerous competition wins include the Grand Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award. The sextet has been profiled in The New York Times and featured on CBS News Sunday Morning and Bloomberg TV’s Muse.
Current Miller Theatre events featuring this artist:
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