eighth blackbird

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eighth blackbird is a Grammy Award-winning contemporary music sextet founded in 1996. The group derives its name from the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." The ensemble deliberately spells their name in lower case.

The members of eighth blackbird hold degrees in music performance from Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University. In 2004, eighth blackbird was named ensemble-in-residence at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. They are currently ensemble-in residence at the University of Chicago.

Since its founding in 1996, eighth blackbird has been active in commissioning new works from composers such as George Perle, Frederic Rzewski, Joseph Schwantner, Paul Moravec, and Stephen Hartke, as well as works from Jennifer Higdon, Derek Bermel, David Schober, Daniel Kellogg, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, and the Minimum Security Composers Collective. The group received the first BMI/Boudleaux-Bryant Fund Commission and the 2007 American Music Center Trailblazer Award and has received grants from BMI, Meet the Composer, the Greenwall Foundation, and Chamber Music America.