Eighth blackbird lands at Shryock

Factoid:Eighth blackbird will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct 30 at Shryock Auditorium. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $6 for students and children. Call 453-ARTS for reservations.

When eighth blackbird takes the stage at Shryock Auditorium Wednesday, SIUC will be in for a classical musical experience with a twist.

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Eighth blackbird, the highly acclaimed sextet, performs contemporary classical music. The chamber group is composed of Matt Albert, violin and viola; Molly Barth, flutes; Matthew Duvall, percussion; Lisa Kaplan, piano; Michael Maccaferri, clarinets and Nicholas Photinos, cello.

The group derives its name from a Wallace Stevens poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” The eighth stanza of the poem reads, “-I know noble accents/And lucid, inescapable rhythms-“

Albert said he came across the poem while he was an English major in college and thought eighth blackbird would be a fitting label for the progressive sextet.

“It’s short, descriptive and has very brilliant images,” he said.

The six performers, who all hail from the renown Oberlin Conservatory of Music, dazzled critics from the start. Eighth blackbird received first prize at the Fishcoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Coleman Chamber Music Competition in 1996, the year the group was founded.

Two years later, the group placed first at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the first for any contemporary ensemble. Eighth Blackbird’s performances have graced the halls of Carnegie and the Lincoln Center among others.

“We perform contemporary classical music from the past five years or so but nothing older than 20 years,” Albert said.

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Currently, the group serves as ensemble-in-residence at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. The group has toured across the country, receiving rave reviews at every stop.

Allan Kozinn of the New York Times wrote:”The performance left an indelible impression, not only because it was so finely polished, but also because we read the memorization of contemporary chamber works as a sign of commitment beyond the call of duty.”

Wednesday’s performance will include contemporary works by Joan Tower, Frederic Rzewski, Dennis DeSantis and Roshanne Etezady. DeSantis is a former hip-hop disc jockey. The student fine arts activity fees are covering the cost of the group’s appearance.

“We are closer to a lot of college students,” he said. “We grew up in the same culture. There will be some pop culture in some of the music we’ll be playing.”

Albert makes one caveat about the upcoming show:”It’s not going to be a typical chamber music concert,” he said.

Reporter Jane Huh can be reached at [email protected]