Having won the Grammy Award three times, eighth blackbird combine the finesse of a string quartet, the energy of a rock group and the boldness of contemporary theatre. The sextet’s name   draws on a poem by American modernist Wallace Stevens Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, whose eighth stanza begins as follows: I know noble accents  And lucid, inescapable rhythms;  
 
The group members revel in performance, seemingly chaotic reciting, playing prepared instruments, and video art. The group is a resident ensemble of the famous Curtis Institute of Music and of other prestigious universities. 
For this ensemble, ready to go anywhere in their musical explorations, Agata Zubel will be an ideal partner. A composer and singer with unbridled invention and unharnessed voice potential, she will perform with eighth blackbird her own piece Cascando, setting a poem by Samuel Beckett. Agata was awarded Fryderyk for a CD with the same title, adding to her impressive collection of awards, including Paszport Polityki, the prize of Musica Polonica Nova, and the top rank at the 60th UNESCO International Composers’ Rostrum.  .
Not everyone will associate Wratislavia Cantans with new music, but in fact presenting modern means of expression was one of the intentions of its founder Andrzej Markowski. Already the first editions saw composers conduct their own works. The concert of eighth blackbird will be all the more interesting, as this time the composer will sing her own piece. ‘I believe every composer should be a performer themselves, and every performer should be a composer,’ is the motto of Agata Zubel’s album Cascando.  The concept is surely close to the creed of eighth blackbird, as they create anew the works they perform – interpreting, staging and simply living every sound they play.