A segment filmed in Oberlin's Finney Chapel may be part of CBS Sunday Morning 's feature on the eighth blackbird. But I know, too, that the blackbird is involved in what I know. After the concert, eighth blackbird will meet with Oberlin alumni attending the event. The debut concert is part of the group's first-prize award in the 1998 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. The award includes two years of exclusive management under Concert Artists Guild, a commission from a composer, and a New York concert debut.
Eighth blackbird is an instrumental sextet specializing in the performance of new music.
While eighth blackbird emphasizes performing new music as a sextet, the group's repertoire includes the music of many periods in a variety of instrumental combinations. Formed during the 1994 fall semester at Oberlin, eighth blackbird was created as a select group for the Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Weiss, associate professor of wind conducting. Eighth blackbird first rose to national attention after winning the 1996 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The ensemble has since won the 1997 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition and the Channel Classics recording prize. The Channel Classics prize includes an appearance at the 1999 Rockport Chamber Music Festival in Rockport, Massachussets.