Eighth Blackbird is a classical chamber ensemble that specializes in music by living artists.

Eighth Blackbird’s mission is to move music forward through innovative aesthetics, generating new work, and mentorship, all coalescing to create collaborative artistic experiences and build communities for all. Eighth Blackbird realizes its mission through five initiatives: Eighth Blackbird, the award-winning sextet; Blackbird IV, a piano/percussion duo; Blackbird Creative Lab, the organization's mentoring arm; the Chicago Artists Workshop, a presenting series; and Blackbird Productions, a platform for wide-ranging creative projects.

The Lab ’26 seeks individual musicians and composers. All Lab participants must be 21+ years of age by May 28th, 2026.

While Eighth Blackbird specializes in contemporary classical music, the Lab is a place of exploration and to that end, encourages cross-discipline applicants. If you align with the mission of the Lab, but are unsure about applying, please reach out.

The Lab ’26 will take place in Williams Bay, WI and Chicago, IL. Exact dates TBD.

The application for the Lab will be available November 2025 and will ask for work samples, strategic planning documents, and visioning statements. The application fee is $25.

Please reach out if you are in need of financial assistance or are in need of application accommodations. There is no requirement for a resume or letters of recommendation.

The Lab offers a need-based sliding scale tuition from $250 to $2,500. In 2023 and 2024, the majority of participants paid $500 or less to attend the Lab. We encourage applicants to apply regardless of ability to pay.

As context to the participation fee, the Lab cohort is small in order to keep the intimacy and collaborative spirit of the program. As a result, the total cost to Eighth Blackbird for each Lab artist to participate in the program - including food, housing, faculty, guests and staff, and production costs - is approximately $7,250. We are fully committed to building an immersion that is accessible, sustainable, and tuition-free in the long term, and are working to build the support to do so.

Participants are responsible for getting themselves to/from Chicago. If this is a financial hardship, financial aid is available.

Regarding travel onsite, for participants flying to Chicago, we will hire a shuttle for the 90-minute ride from the Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Williams Bay, WI on May 28th, 2024.

A car is not necessary to attend the Lab 2023, and all program-based transportation needs will be provided as needed. To this end, we will survey participating artists' accessibility needs and plan accordingly.

Regarding dietary needs: Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided each day. Lab participants will be sent a form in early March requesting dietary information, and we will do our best to accommodate.

Regarding physical space: The Yerkes Observatory is well over 100 years old, as are many of the buildings in the Lake Geneva area, and our partners and hosts are continually working to expand their accessibility. We inquire into accessibility needs in our application, in part, to begin conversations with our partners about potential needs for the program.

We will work with participants on their accessibility needs, physical and otherwise and if you have specific questions regarding accessibility, please come to an information session and/or be directly in touch with us at info@eighthblackbird.org.

The schedule of the Lab will be set in late Spring. We anticipate regular days as follows:

8-9a Breakfast

9-10a Personal Time/Warm Up time

10-12p Workshop Time

12-1p Lunch

1-5:30p Rehearsal

6-7p Dinner

7:30-9p Concert Programming or Open Time

While the Lab will intentionally plan for pauses and processing space, we anticipate several days spanning 12-hours. If you have questions about the pace or intensity of the Lab, please reach out. Due to the immersive nature of the Lab, participants must be present for the full duration of the program.