October 19, 2004

eighth blackbird Next Up For Boise Chamber Music Series

The musical group eighth blackbird will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, in the Morrison Center Recital Hall at Boise State University as part of the Boise Chamber Music Series. Tickets are $20 and $15 and will be available a week before the event by calling 426-1216. In addition, a free mini-concert will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, also in the Morrison Center Recital Hall. This special, educational event is open to the public and is sponsored in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. No tickets are required. Regarded as one of the premier new music groups in the world, eighth blackbird will perform a cutting-edge concert of works by George Perle, Kaija Saariaho, George Crumb, Frederic Rzewski and Jennifer Higdon. The winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, where it was the first contemporary ensemble to win first prize, the group is also a three-time recipient of the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. This group has been featured on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” and was the subject of a profile in The New York Times and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” The group, consisting of six musicians — pianist Lisa Kaplan, violin/violist Matt Albert, percussionist Matthew Duvall, clarinetist Michael J. Maccaferri, cellist Nicholas Photinos and flutist Molly Alicia Barth — derives its name from the Wallace Stevens poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” The group’s current season includes three performance debuts: its European debut in Kraków, Poland; its Canadian debut in Vancouver; and its Carnegie Hall debut. In recent seasons the sextet has performed in South Korea, Mexico and throughout the United States. It has appeared several times at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Cincinnati’s Music X, and has also appeared at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, the Caramoor International Music Festival, the Chautauqua Music Festival and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. -30- Contact: Jeanne Belfy, Music Department, (208) 426-1216, jbelfy@boisestate.edu  Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, communications and marketing, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu