The Young Eight is a string octet of African American string players from The Boston Conservatory, Columbia University, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin. Founded in 2002 at the North Carolina School of the Arts by director Quinton I. Morris, the critically acclaimed octet has established itself as one of the next generation's most dynamic and energetic chamber ensembles. The octet was awarded a Recognition of Achievement and Proclamation by the King County Council (Washington State) and the "Best New Chamber Music Award for 2005" by Seattle Weekly Newspaper. They have collaborated with guest artists, including Metropolitan opera soprano Indra Thomas, pianist David Antony Lofton, poet/spoken word artist Toyia Taylor, The Providence String Quartet, members of the Miró String Quartet and composers, David N. Baker, Michael DePaul, and Earl Louis Stewart.

Patrick Grant has created musical scores for theatrical visionaries Gerald Thomas (Queen Liar) and Robert Wilson (three installations and a theatrical presentation with artist Andrey Bartenev at The Watermill Center), The Louvre Museum (an installation for the Musée du Quai Branly), the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble (a tone poem after a scenario by Artaud), The Living Theatre - two theater pieces, a one-act "opera" and music for the documentary "Resist!", and the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company in San Francisco (a piece called "the strangest and most ravishing dance of the year" by the SF Chronicle and nominated for Best Dance Score of 2003 by the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards). His work often involves elements found in the natural and physical sciences (Genome: The Autobiography of a Species). He has been commissioned by the CUNY Graduate Center (BIG BANG), jointly by the artist Kehinde Wiley (for soprano Shequida), Deitch Projects (Rumors of War), and The Columbus Museum of Art (Historical Black Music Rollercoaster), and has written scores for the videos of Gary Beeber (The Coney Island Trilogy and Victoriana). His works have been performed at the Bang on a Can Annual Marathon, MATA - Music at the Anthology, by Gamelan Son of Lion, The CUNY Graduate Center's Science & the Arts series, The Forum Freies Theater in Germany, and by The Young Eight (hIP-hOP eXPERIENCE for string quartet). As a presenter, Mr. Grant has produced scores of new music concerts in the alternative spaces of New York City, in art galleries, theaters, factory lofts and clubs, since 1988, most recently with the One-Two-Three-GO! series. He is founder and artistic director of Strange Music Inc., an organization dedicated to releasing recordings and presenting compelling new work with performances and installations in New York and around the world. He formed his own ensemble, Patrick Grant Group, in 1998. Born in Detroit, MI, Grant studied at Wayne State University and at The Juilliard School, and has been a student of gamelan and the Indonesian performing arts during three residencies in Bali.

www.theyoungeight.com
www.patrickgrant.com