EIGHTH BLACKBIRD

4X GRAMMY WINNER

" one of the smartest, most dynamic ensembles on the planet.” —Chicago Tribune

“a brand-name defined by adventure, vibrancy and quality.” —Detroit Free Press

VITAL SINES

Originally Commissioned and premiered by US NAVY BAND and Eighth Blackbird

New Orchestration premiered in September 2023 by Pacific Symphony and Eighth Blackbird

Called “alluring” and “wildly inventive” by The New York Times, the music of American composer Viet Cuong has been performed on six continents by musicians and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, So Percussion, Alarm Will Sound and Atlanta Symphony, among many others. Viet’s music has been featured in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center, and his works for wind ensemble have amassed hundreds of performances worldwide.

Vital Sines is a work for Eighth Blackbird & Symphony Orchestra adapted from the original work for the sextet with Wind Ensemble. This showpiece features the most electrifying attributes of this unique ensemble, accentuated by punchy orchestration.

NINE MOTHERS

Commissioned and premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Eighth Blackbird

The “Nine Mothers” are Norse mythological god-figures who, as sisters, are collectively the mother of the Norse deity Heimdallr. They are mentioned in the 13th-century Prose Edda and Poetic Edda, though descriptions of them are brief and cryptic. Scholars have variously theorized that the nine mothers are analogous to the “Nine Sisters”—the daughters of the goddess Rán and the jötunn (ancient proto-deity) Ægir, who both personify the sea. The “Nine Sisters” are goddesses personifying different kinds of waves.

This concerto for Eighth Blackbird and Chamber Orchestra was written by music composition collective KIND OF KINGS— Gemma Peacocke (New Zealand/Brooklyn, NY), Shelley Washington (United States/Brooklyn, NY), and Maria Kaoutzani (Cyprus/Chicago, IL). The three composers of this work, having each written one movement, made the connection with this idea of nine mothers as a fitting corollary to honor their own Nine Mothers & Grandmothers.

Performing a composition, like acting a role in a play, is an interpretative practice. We didn’t compose the work, but we are tasked with making it authentic to us so that the experience for you is also authentic. It’s distinctive, in wonderful ways, when someone composes a work specifically for you. Every aspect is heightened. Kinds of Kings composed Nine Mothers for Eighth Blackbird and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. They know who we are and how we perform. We get to go beyond performing the concerto instrumental parts. We get to perform our parts, made for us. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra gets to perform their parts, made for them — Matthew Duval, Eighth Blackbird

DURATION: APPROX. 24 MINS

BIO.

See Artist page here: www.efperformances.com/eighth-blackbird

INSTRUMENTATION.

VITAL SINES

• EIGHTH BLACKBIRD (sextet)

• 2 Flutes / 2 Oboes / 2 Clarinets in Bb /2 Bassoons

• 4 Horns in F

• 3 Trumpets (Bb) / 3 Trombones / Tuba

• Timpani & Crotales [C4, Bb4]

• 3 Percussion

• Violin I / Violin II / Viola / Violoncello / Contrabass

PDF of the score is available on request