FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Helen Pinch, Performance Santa Fe
Phone: (505) 984 8759
Email: hpinch@performancesantafe.org
Promotional Photos
Full Press Release

Santa Fe, NM, August 23, 2022 – After more than two decades of moving music forward, Eighth Blackbird continues to define the cutting edge of contemporary classical music. Hailed as “one of the smartest, most dynamic ensembles on the planet” (Chicago Tribune), Eighth Blackbird began in 1996 as a group of six entrepreneurial Oberlin Conservatory students and continues today under the leadership of founding members pianist Lisa Kaplan and percussionist Matthew Duvall. Eighth Blackbird has won four GRAMMY Awards for Best Small Ensemble/ Chamber Music Performance over its 26-year history and has become “a brand-name defined by adventure, vibrancy and quality” (Detroit Free Press). Eighth Blackbird’s Phoenix celebrates the group’s 25+ year legacy and showcases the immense range of styles and sounds embraced by the innovative ensemble. Phoenix uplifts the works of young composers, including one selection by Tyson Davis (b. 2001), who Eighth Blackbird met as a student composer; Davis’ piece is titled Between Light and Shadows and, in the composer’s own words, explores “the human physique in the science fiction, obscure and metaphysical sense.” Other selections include Stay On It by the legendary Julius Eastman (1940—1999) and the sublime The Clarity of Cold Air by longtime Eighth Blackbird collaborator Jonathan Bailey Holland (b. 1974).

Eighth Blackbird: Phoenix
Wednesday, September 21 | 7:30 p.m.
St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art
107 W Palace Ave
Santa Fe, NM 87501
$35 – $95

To purchase tickets, visit www.performancesantafe.org or call (505) 984 8759

Presented through the generosity of Dinah and Ken Reddick
Season Sponsors: Ann Murphy and William W. Daily; Leah Gordon

Eighth Blackbird

Matthew Duvall, Artistic Director
Lisa Kaplan, Executive Director

Lina Andonvoska, flutes • Zachary Good, clarinets • Maiani da Silva, violin • Ashley Bathgate, cello • Matthew Duvall, percussion • Lisa Kaplan, piano

About Eighth Blackbird

Launched by six entrepreneurial Oberlin Conservatory undergraduates, this Chicago-based super-group has gained international recognition since winning the 1998 Concert Artists Guild Competition. The group has commissioned and premiered hundreds of works by composers including Viet Cuong, Bryce Dessner, Jennifer Higdon, Amy Beth Kirsten, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Pamela Z and Steve Reich, whose Double Sextet won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize. A long-term relationship with Chicago’s Cedille Records has produced nine acclaimed recordings and four GRAMMY Awards for Best Small Ensemble/Chamber Music Performance, most recently in 2016 for Filament. Eighth Blackbird was named Music America’s 2017 Ensemble of the Year, were inaugural recipients of Chamber Music America’s Visionary Award and garnered the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. In 2017 they launched the Blackbird Creative Lab, a mentorship program for emerging artists. The name Eighth Blackbird derives from Wallace Stevens’s aphoristic poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” www.eighthblackbird.org

About Performance Santa Fe

Performance Santa has been bringing the very best of music, dance, and theater to iconic Santa Fe locations since 1937. Now in its 86th season, organization upholds excellence in the performing arts and brings joy and enrichment to the community. Alongside its extensive performance season, the organization runs three dynamic, exciting, and inclusive educational programs for students in the community— Arts for Life, the Masterclass Series, and the Field Trip Series. PSF’s 2022-2023 season brings 26 performances to Santa Fe and celebrates the diverse possibilities of artistic expression. Learn more at www.PerformanceSantaFe.org. Performance Santa Fe is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

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