Part of the MCA Composers Stage series
The Grammy-winning eighth blackbird returns to MCA Stage with the fascinating and provocative series PowerFUL/LESS. These two concerts are inspired by Stravinsky’s quote, “Music is essentially powerless to express anything at all.” The first concert, PowerFUL, confronts the audience with a program of passionate and politically charged works featuring Mr. Tambourine Man by John Corigliano with soprano Katie Calcamuggio, Coming Together by Frederic Rzewski, and John Luther Adams’ The Light Within. The second concert, PowerLESS, is a massive and purely beautiful program featuring Steve Reich’s celebrated masterwork Music for 18 Musicians. It is paired with J.S. Bach’s Chaconne from the Partita in D minor, originally composed for solo violin, and now arranged by eighth blackbird’s violinist Matt Albert for the same large ensemble that will perform Reich’s work. For this concert, which features four pianists, four vocalists, an array of percussionists, and other players, eighth blackbird has invited fellow new-music specialists to join them. The guests are Third Coast Percussion, the Meehan/Perkins Duo, pianists Amy Briggs and Adam Marks, clarinetist Kara Bancks and singers Nina Heebink, Susan Nelson, Kirsten Hedegaard and Amy Conn.
PowerFUL
Katherine Calcamuggio, mezzo-soprano; eighth blackbird: Tim Munro, flutes; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets; Matt Albert, violin and viola; Nicholas Photinos, cello; Matthew Duvall, percussion; and Lisa Kaplan, piano.
John Corigliano: Mr Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan (2000/09) for soprano and sextet, (35 minutes)
1. Prelude: Mr. Tambourine Man
2. Clothes Line
3. Blowin’ in the Wind
4. Masters of War
5. All Along the Watchtower
6. Chimes of Freedom
7. Postlude: Forever Young
Intermission
John Luther Adams: The Light Within (2007) for sextet and electronics, (12 min)
Frederic Rzewski: Coming Together (1972), arranged by Matt Albert for sextet (2000/03), (20 min)
PowerLESS
eighth blackbird: Tim Munro, flutes and piano; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets; Matt Albert, violin and viola; Nicholas Photinos, cello; Matthew Duvall, percussion; and Lisa Kaplan, piano. Third Coast Percussion: Owen Clayton Condon, percussion; Robert Dillon, percussion; Peter Martin, percussion; and David Skidmore, percussion. Meehan/Perkins Duo: Todd Meehan, percussion; Doug Perkins, percussion; with Sunshine Simmons, clarinets; Adam Marks, piano; Amy Briggs, piano; Amy Conn, soprano; Kirsten Hedegaard, soprano; Susan Nelson, soprano; and Nina Heebinck, mezzo soprano.
JS Bach: Chaconne from the Partita for solo violin in D minor BWV 1004 (ca. 1717-23), (12 min); Arranged by Matt Albert for 19 players
Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76), (60 min)
About the Artists
Since its founding in 1996, eighth blackbird has committed itself to high quality new music experiences. Over the years eighth blackbird has commissioned and recorded new works from composers such as Steve Reich, George Perle, Federic Rzewski and Joseph Schwantner. The ensemble has also sought out new works from a younger generation of composers including, Jennifer Higdon, Stephen Hartke, Derek Bermel, David Schober, Daniel Kellogg, and Carlos Sánchez Gutiérrez. eighth blackbird has received numerous awards including The America Music Center Trailblazer and a Meet the Composer award (2007), BMI/Boudleaux-Bryant Fund Commission, the Grand Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award (2000), and The NEA/CMA Special Commissioning Award (2004). eighth blackbird has received grants from BMI, Meet The Composer, the Greenwall Foundation, and Chamber Music America, among many others. eighth blackbird has enjoyed a long recording career, with Cedille and Nonesuch Records and received a 2008 Grammy award for Best Chamber Music Performance.
For more information please visit eighth blackbird
Funding
Support for this performance is provided in part by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.