By Celia R. Baker
Salt Lake Tribune

Chamber Ensemble Takes Flight With Contemporary Sounds

When three members of eighth blackbird turned their backs on the audience and began bouncing hips to an infectious beat, it became apparent that these are not typical performers of instrumental art music.

The contemporary music ensemble came to Salt Lake City's Libby Gardner Concert Hall Tuesday evening for a mind-expanding performance of new music. eighth blackbird takes its lower-case name from a line in the poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens.

To the six musicians of the group, the term "contemporary music" does not refer to the long-dead Arnold Schoenberg and his cronies, who made their dissonant break with tonality back in the 1920s. These players are young and hip right now, and they champion the art music of composers who are thoroughly alive. One of those, Fred Lerdahl, was even present for the concert.

Michael Torke's engaging "The Yellow Pages" (1985) opened the concert, with all six musicians playing sans music stands or scores, and dressed in variations on the theme of T-shirt and jeans. As Torke's minimalist theme expanded through countless varying iterations, the group moved about the stage, helping the audience follow musical fragments as they were tossed between the players. The music was based on unintimidating traditional harmonies, and full of rhythmic bounce. It sounded downright catchy -- a good introduction to new music for any neophyte.

Chen Yi's "Qi" (1997), which followed, was similarly easy to appreciate, with Asian overtones permeating the harmonic and melodic material of the work. Much of the enjoyment was seeing the music unfold, especially Lisa Kaplan playing the inside of a grand piano and Matthew Duvall's flamboyant performance on Chinese cymbals and gong.

More intellectual depth was to be found in John Harbison's Variation (1982) and Lerdahl's "Time After Time" (2000), which combines passion with intelligence. From the side balcony, Lerdahl received applause from the audience and gave his own to the performers at the conclusion of the work.

Joan Tower's "Petrouchskates" (1983) rounded out the evening with a tribute to Stravinsky and ice skating, and felt like a treasure hunt for quotes and variants on "Petrouchka's" opening movement.

All of the repertoire was as challenging as it was attractive, and best approached with some background in modern compositional trends. Still, the music was not beyond appreciation for any open-minded listener.

Members of eighth blackbird are flutist Molly Barth, clarinetist Michael Maccaferri, violinist-violist Matt Albert, cellist Nicholas Photinos, percussionist Duvall and pianist Kaplan. They perform with a clairvoyant sense of one another, and technique that is the musical equivalent of extreme skiing.

The repertoire of eighth blackbird is ferociously difficult, yet its members appear to be having a wonderful time as they play, creating new definitions of musical beauty with each phrase. Kudos to University of Utah's Virtuoso Series and the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City for joining forces to present eighth blackbird.

Copyright 2003 Salt Lake Tribune