By John von Rhein | Tribune music critic

High-tech dashes help eighth blackbird soar

Tired of being the proverbial prophet without honor in its adopted hometown, the Chicago-based new music ensemble eighth blackbird this season is making its boldest bid yet for mainstream attention.

By Larry Fuchsberg

Blackbird on the wing

"New" or "contemporary" music, we're often told, appeals almost exclusively to a narrow, specialist audience. But Eighth Blackbird, the dazzling Chicago-based sextet, clearly hasn't gotten the memo.

By Paul Horsley

Eighth Blackbird performs new music

If you’re going to play music whose lasting value is uncertain, you might as well execute it to the n’th degree.

By Martha Erwin, Special Correspondent

Making 'unique sound worlds' inviting

Strange but not estranging. That's eighth blackbird, the University of Richmond's resident chamber music ensemble -- classically trained musicians who mostly eschew a traditional repertoire and garb, performing Roberto Sierra in cargo pants rather than Schubert in silk and sequins.

By Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

Animal Instinct

It’s about time the classical world opened its doors to everyone else. Though we should be thankful that this process has been underway for decades, progress has occurred mostly at a slow and labored pace punctuated with stabs of forward motion. The proliferation of “New Music,” however, has certainly helped.

By Daniel Webster