2023 Creative Lab Recap

Hosted by Grammy-winning Eighth Blackbird at the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI

In 2023, founding members of Eighth Blackbird, Lisa Kaplan and Matthew Duvall, re-launched the Blackbird Creative Lab - an immersive mentorship program for contemporary classical musicians and composers. The Lab, previously held in Ojai, CA, was held in Williams Bay, WI from May 21st to June 4th at the historic Yerkes Observatory, led by Executive Director Dennis Kois. Yerkes, which opened its doors in 1897, is one of the nation’s oldest observatories still in operation and houses the world’s largest refractor telescope.

The Lab 2023
A mini-documentary filmed by Cami Guarda

After receiving over 115 applications, The Lab invited twelve musicians and seven composers from across the globe to explore creative and practical entrepreneurship via collaboration, experimentation, and performance. See 2023 Cohort Roster + Faculty. Each of the composers commissioned a new work, 7-10 minutes in length, inspired by the observatory. Lab musicians were placed in small ensembles alongside members of Eighth Blackbird, who offered mentorship as both collaborator and coach as the commissions were rehearsed. Lab performers also presented works by Viet Cuong, Joan Tower, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Gilad Cohen, and Viktoria Elizabeth Kraunzner. 

In addition to Eighth Blackbird’s Lisa Kaplan, Matthew Duvall, Ashley Bathgate, Maiani da Silva, Lina Andonovska, and Zachary Good, who offered workshops on creative visioning, the Lab’s faculty included composers Jonathan Bailey Holland, Viet Cuong, Joan Tower, and Pamela Z. Composition faculty each led a hybrid lecture-performance, featuring Lab artists and faculty performing on selected works. Further, Lab composers had the opportunity to attend several group seminars and coach one-on-one with the composition faculty, receiving career support and feedback on Lab commissions. 

Chris Murrah, Stage Director, and Susy Bielak, Creative Director of the Lab, joined the faculty roster, supporting cohort members in workshops on movement, performance, and site-specific research. The pair, in collaboration with the composition faculty, supported the seven Lab composers in a unique opportunity to collaborate with one another, via both composition and performance, through the development of a 15-minute site-specific work presented in the Dome of Yerkes entitled finding space. 

The Lab joined forces with Yerkes' staff Dr. Amanda Bauer, the Montgomery Foundation Deputy Director + Head of Science and Education, Walt Chaddick, Director of Programs and External Affairs, and Dr. Amy Steele, Director of Astronomy and Research to explore the massive observatory and the cosmos, with historical presentations of campus buildings and grounds, workshops on glass plates and telescopes, universe-viewing experiences of Mars, Venus, the Moon and the stars, and seminars illustrating an astronomer’s journey. 

Guest speakers offered practical development for the cohort of artists with Odell Mitchell III, presenting on the practicalities of legal contracts; Meg Leary, sharing insights of grantmaking and arts funding; and Angel Ysaguirre, exploring practices of community engagement. 

The Lab kicked-off with a concert at Tiny Tempest Farms, an agricultural and creative hub in Lake Geneva founded by Sheri Doyel and Blair Thomas, featuring Eighth Blackbird, with special guests Dalia Chin, presenting composition as explanation by David Lang and Erase by Andy Akiho, with special performance of puppetry by Blair Thomas. The Lab was also welcomed by Laurin and Will Mack at Black Point Estate and Gardens, the historic mansion of Chicago beer tycoon Conrad Seipp, for an evening of presentations of artistic process by Lab composers and chamber music performances by Lab musicians and faculty. 

The second week of the Lab was heavily focused on the production of a five-hour musical event that spanned across Yerkes. The concert featured the eight Lab commissions, Wax & Wire by Viet Cuong, Into the Night by Joan Tower, short lectures by Dr. Amanda Bauer and Walt Chaddick, and a shared audience + artist meal on the lawn of the Observatory. The audience, guided by Yerkes programming staff, experienced live music in the Ann M. Drake Library, the Dungeon (the space directly below the massive telescope), the Programs Room, the Hagenah Rotunda, and the Dome. For the concert program and full performance videos, see the 2023 Blackbird Creative Lab Final Concert Program

2023 Blackbird Creative Lab Final Concert Program Performances

Commissions 

  • Light and Dark composed by Asuka Kakitani performed by Alex Koi (voice), Maiani Da Silva (violin), Daniel Knapp (cello)

  • Galactic Playground composerdby Wenbin Lyu performed by Lina Andonovska (flute), Ethan Cowburn (percussion), Claudia Fuller (violin), Max Hammond (piano), Daniel Knapp (cello), Kathryn Vetter (clarinet)

  • Artifacts composed by Christian Quiñones Performed by Noel Holloway (percussion), Max Hammond (Piano)

  • Both Beaming and Beckoning composed by Anna Murray performed by Noelia Cruz (violin), Andres Guerra (guitar), Michelle Hromin (clarinet), Alexandra Koi (voice), Zachary Good (clarinet) 

  • Hidden Mass composed by Sophie Mathieu performed by Matthew Duvall (percussion/piano), Andres Guerra (guitar/piano) , Max Hammond (piano). Kathryn Sloat (harp/piano)

  • To no end composed by Ari Sussman performed by Matthew Duvall (percussion), Claudia Fuller (violin), Michelle Hromin (clarinet), Lisa Kaplan (piano), Eliza Shephard (flute), Kathryn Sloat (harp), Kathryn Vetter (bass clarinet)

  • LEARNING composed by Tyler Eschendal performed by Lina Andonovska (flute), Ethan Cowburn (percussion), Noelia Cruz - Violin. Noel Holloway (percussion), Alex Koi (voice) Eliza Shephard (flute), Kathryn Vetter (clarinet)

  • finding space composed and performed by the Blackbird Creative Lab 2023 Composer Cohort (Ari Sussman, Anna Murray, Wenbin Lyu, Sophie Mathieu, Asuka Kakitani, Tyler Eschendal, Christina Quiñones)

Additional Performances 

  • Into the Night composed by Joan Tower performed by Eighth Blackbird's Lisa Kaplan (piano), Matthew Duvall (percussion), Zach Good (clarinet), Lina Andonovska (flute), Maiani Da Silva (violin) with Daniel Knapp (cello)

  • Wax and Wire composed by Viet Cuong

  • Erase composed by Andy Akiho performed by Eighth Blackbird