eighth blackbird Begins Performances at The Kitchen Tomorrow

On February 6 & 7, The Kitchen will present multi-Grammy award-winning contemporary chamber ensemble eighth blackbird, performing their evening-length program Still in Motion. eighth blackbird combines the virtuosity of a string quartet with the energy of a storefront theater company. In Still in Motion, the three-time Grammy-winning "super-ensemble" (Los Angeles Times) brings a very special program to The Kitchen, full to the brim with New York premieres:

Bryce Dessner: Murder Ballades Suite (2013)

Tom Johnson: Counting Duets (1982)

György Ligeti: Études arr. sextet (1985-2001)

Nico Muhly: Doublespeak (2011) NEW YORK PREMIERE

Steve Mackey: Suite: Slide (2012) NEW YORK PREMIERE

Brett Dean: Sextet: Old Kings in Exile (2010) NEW YORK PREMIERE

The program will take place at The Kitchen (512 West 19th Street), February 6 & 7 at 8:00 p.m. nightly. Ticketsare $25 and can be purchased online atwww.thekitchen.org; by phone at 212.255.5793 x11; or in person at The Kitchen (512 West 19th Street), Tuesday-Saturday, 2:00-6:00 p.m.

If Tom Johnson's "Counting Duets" is Sesame Street on acid, then new arrangements of Ligeti's Études are Chopin Gone Wild. Steve Mackey provides a moving portrait of loneliness and delusion in his Grammy-winning "Slide", while Australian composer Brett Dean fills "Old Kings in Exile" with hallucinatory dreams and threatening night-terrors. Brand new music by two indie darlings rounds out the bill. The National's guitarist Bryce Dessner delves into the dark and dangerous caverns of early American murder ballads, while Nico Muhly's "Doublespeak" buzzes with quicksilver brilliance.

eighth blackbird combines the finesse of a string quartet, the energy of a rock band and the audacity of a storefront theater company. The Chicago-based, three-time Grammy-winning "super-musicians" (LA Times) entertain and provoke audiences across the country and around the world.

2013/14 season highlights include debuts with the Cincinnati Symphony (where the ensemble is an Artist in Residence) and New World Symphony; residencies at UCLA, SUNY Purchase, Baylor and Duke; a collaboration with Oberlin College's CME; and a debut on the Lincoln Center's Atrium series.

Eighth blackbird holds ongoing Ensemble in Residence positions at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Richmond, and University of Chicago. A decade-long relationship with Chicago's Cedille Records has produced six acclaimed recordings. The ensemble has won three Grammy Awards, for the recordings strange imaginary animals, Lonely Motel: Music from Slide and Meanwhile.

Eighth blackbird's members hail from America's Great Lakes, Keystone, Golden and Bay states, and Australia's Sunshine State. There are four foodies, three beer snobs and one exercise junkie. The name "eighth blackbird" derives from the eighth stanza of Wallace Stevens's evocative, aphoristic poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (1917). eighth blackbird is managed by David Lieberman Artists. eighthblackbird.org

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