eighth blackbird: Powerful September 15, 2010

Composer Igor Stravinsky's provocative statement questions the value, meaning and power of art. This season, Grammy-winning ensemble eighth blackbird tests this statement in two highly contrasted, fascinating programs that each take an extreme stance on the issue. The first program, Powerful, is inspired by an angry rebuttal of Stravinsky by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe: "Art for art's sake is just another piece of deodorized dog s***," and confronts the audience with passionate, politically-charged music. American composer Frederic Rzewski chose a letter by Sam Melville, a political prisoner who would soon die in the violent Attica prison riot, to lob his musical grenade, Coming Together; while John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man is a setting of war-soaked song texts by Bob Dylan—the U.S. premiere of this piece will feature Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitmann.

Official Website: http://modlin.richmond.edu/events/great-performances/eighth-blackbird-powerful.html