Hosted by four-time Grammy Award winners Eighth Blackbird, the 2024 Blackbird Creative Lab at Yerkes Observatory has ticketed performances and sit-down discourses with composers for the first time! This year’s Lab welcomes a talented group of composers along with the ensembles AREPO, Sputter Box, and Versa. The faculty and performers include musicians Lisa Kaplan, Matthew Duvall, Maiani da Silva, Aaron Wolff, Lina Andonovska, and Zachary Good along with composers Viet Cuong and Jonathan Bailey Holland. Internationally-acclaimed artist Ann Hamilton and legendary puppeteer Blair Thomas are an electrifying part of the performances and programs this year.

Concerts and Conversations: From May 30th to June 9th, our ticketed talks and performances at Blackbird Creative Lab illuminate an exhilarating, new path forward for Yerkes Observatory. These performances will not only cast light on the science of music and the music of science but also will be innovative and entertaining. These shows have small capacities, so tickets are extremely limited.

GET TICKETS AND INFO HERE!

PAY WHAT YOU WANT OR PAY WHAT YOU CAN! Ticket info: $50 suggested price for all events at Yerkes. $25 community special rate. $100 reserves your ticket + a donation to Blackbird Creative Lab and Yerkes Future Foundation. $200 reserves your ticket + donation. $300 reserves your ticket + donation. For the $300 ticket + donation, you also get special invitations to behind the scenes events and meet the musician evenings. We’ll reach out individually for those. If you would like to donate above and beyond this, simply click the Donate option in your transaction. Both Blackbird Creative Lab and Yerkes Future Foundation are 501c3 nonprofits who are grateful for your generosity, enthusiasm, and participation!

The members of 8BB value their roles as curators, educators, and mentors. Beginning exclusively as a chamber music ensemble, 8BB has expanded to represent numerous mission-driven initiatives. At the ever-restoring Yerkes Observatory, Eighth Blackbird hosts this bold initiative, an inclusive two-week professional development immersion for performers and composers plus an ongoing community of practice for contemporary classical musicians and composers. The Lab fosters expansive artistic vision, collaboration, and mentorship in the creation of viable lives for artists. It continues its mission beyond the two-week collaboration to find opportunities for its network of alumni to present in professional engagements.

RESERVE TICKETS HERE!