Di/verge is the title of a collaboration between Minimum Security and sextet Eighth Blackbird, an evening-length staged event in which Eighth Blackbirdís instrumental performers memorize a program of music and choreograph movements that illustrate and accompany aspects of what is heard, ranging from straightforward performance to Buster Keaton-style physical comedy. In 2001-2002, Eighth Blackbird performed selections from the larger work on their national tour, and in 2002-2003, they toured the complete evening of Di/verge across America. Over these two years, the music was heard at Carnegie Hallís Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Centerís Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, San Franciscoís Herbst Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art, at universities in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, at The Norfolk Summer Music Festival, and elsewhere.

The music of Di/verge was composed in four ìthreadsî that are interwoven by the performers to create a complete evening in two halves. Each thread is itself a complete four-movement work by an individual composer, but when interspersed together and performed without pause, a greater musical work emerges based on common themes and musical details. The contributions of each composer has a distinct voice, but often the stylistic distinctions between one work and another are subtle, resulting in an ambiguity uncommon in classical music programs; a listener may never know who wrote which section of music, and must abandon many listening habits.

Dennis DeSantisí Powerless is definitely a piece written by a percussionist - sly, driving, intricately woven work borrows equally from and minimalism to deliver a sleek and solid groove. Its four movements range from the slippery Eel, inspired by Louis Andriessen, to the stop-and-start Ace to the dance tune Egis. Adam Silvermanís In Another Manís Skin, on the other hand, is at times lyrical and sweet, sharp and incisive, and dark & brooding. It leaves the impression of something intimately familiaróa sense of nostalgia. His Cover Tune explores a familiar song, and the other three movements of his work look at the song from different angles, almost like visiting a person at different stages in their life. Ken Uenoís Pharmakon, dissonant and full of stops and starts, also explores ideas of perception, with three brief ìsubmovementsî acting as excerpts of (or windows into) a main movement. Pharmakon, a Greek word for "drug," represents a paradox, meaning both "poison" and "remedy.î For Ken Ueno, Pharmakon is an edgy, jagged, relentless work, contrasted with brief moments of suspension, ultimately decaying into eerie desolation. Roshanne Etezadyís Damaged Goods is at times lyrical and melancholy, and at others furiously rhythmic. Damaged Goods explores contrasts - loss and recovery, distance and intimacy, despair and hope.

[ Visit the Audio page to hear excerpts from Di/verge ]