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Eighth Blackbird premieres ‘composition as explanation’

February 2, 2022

February 25-26, Eighth Blackbird premieres David Lang’s composition as explanation at Duke Performances.  The new work is a nod to Gertrude Stein’s candid and circular 1926 lecture. Lang integrates composition and innovative aspects of theater, performance, and choreography. To create actors out of Eighth Blackbird, Lang sought out director Anne Bogart, co-artistic director of SITI Company. With Bogart at the helm, Lang envisions a new kind of musical artist, one with the formal training of actors on stage. composition as explanation empowers musicians to become more than the conduits that deliver music to the listener.