May 19, 2009

We're excited to announce that our new album Floodplain is out now on Nonesuch Records. The album includes new works written for Kronos by Ramallah Underground and Aleksandra Vrebalov, traditional works from Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran, contemporary interpretations of classical music of Azerbaijan and India, and popular music from Egypt and Iraq. Listen to Floodplain (our website | Facebook | MySpace), and purchase (Amazon | iTunes.)

The title and concept of the album come from the idea that floodplains are fertile tracts of land that border rivers which are prone to devastating flooding. The album was inspired by the idea that floodplains experience new life after a catastrophe, just as cultures that undergo great difficulty will experience creative fertility.

Says David Harrington, Kronos' founder and artistic director - “Floodplain was imagined and recorded during one era in American politics, and then released during a very different one. Our work is a continuously evolving interaction with the world we are a part of, and we are always trying to find ways to reflect what it means to be musicians today.”

Listen to Floodplain (our website | Facebook | MySpace), and purchase (Amazon | iTunes).

May 10, 2009

We're hitting the road again next week, and we'd love to see you this summer! We'll be performing in Australia in June, Europe and New York in July, plus two concerts at home in Northen California in August. Take a look at our summer tour schedule to see if we're performing near you!

Our summer starts off with a trip to Australia, where we'll perform at the Sydney Opera House on June 5 and Melbourne Recital Centre on June 6. Both performances include Jon Rose's Music from 4 Fences, in which Kronos puts down their violins and actually bows a fence!  View photos on Facebook and Flickr, and stay tuned for behind the scenes updates on Twitter and YouTube while we're preparing for the world premiere.

In July we'll be in Germany (July 5 - Duisburg, July 11 - Dalheim), France (July 7 - Lyon), Poland (July 9 - Szczecin), and Ireland (July 12 - Louth, July 14 - Galway). After that we're stopping in Brooklyn to play a free Celebrate Brooklyn! concert in Prospect Park on July 16.

Finally, in August we'll be closer to home - come see us in Gualala, CA for the Art in the Redwoods Festival on August 15, or join us in Nicasio, CA at Rancho Nicasio on August 16 to have some BBQ and listen to Kronos on the lawn in the sunshine.

April 22, 2009

In C Interviews: Aaron Shaw.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I hadn't heard it until I was approached to play it. I was struck by how familiar it sounded- how much influence the piece has had on other music I've listened to.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

I'm excited to discover the influences it will have on my playing. For a performer of Scottish/Irish traditional music, In C is a tricky piece. The note combinations, length of notes, and use of rests are an-idiomatic and have required that I explore my instrument in ways I've not done before.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

So much in music has changed since that time. I think the main difference is the freedom afforded performers and composers today and much of that change may be traced to In C.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

I'll be playing the Uilleann Pipes. These are sometimes known as the Irish Bagpipes, though their more well-know cousin, the Highland or Scottish Bagpipe, is also played in Ireland. Unlike the Highland Bagpipes, Uilleann Pipes are not mouth-blown. The air is supplied to the bag using a bellows under the right arm. The Chanter (melody pipe) is capable of playing two octaves and is chromatic. There are three Drones playing a constant tone, and three Regulators, keyed pipes that are played with the right wrist to provide chordal accompaniment. Uilleann Pipes are played seated as the drones and regulators lie across the performers lap and the chanter is stopped on the right leg, allowing staccato playing and rests. Uilleann Pipes are typically found in the key of D. I have had to find a chanter in the key of C in order to play this piece. As the music does not include a drone or chords I won't be playing the drones or regulators.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

This is all very new to me. I have not played with any of the other performers before but I'm looking forward to the entire experience. As a performer of traditional music all my pieces are memorized and follow rather regular patterns.

Learn more about Aaron Shaw here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 22, 2009

Up next for an In C interview: Bill Ryan, director of the Grand Valley State New Music Ensemble.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

Spring 1988. I was a student in a sophomore music theory class where they spent the session lecturing and performing the piece. I was blown away, to say the least. The opinion among my classmates was not universal, but everyone had a strong reaction regardless.

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

The first time I played it was 2001 or so, at Suffolk Community College. I coached the student new music group and played marimba. We also had live painters create a work during the performance. Since then I've organized an all-star performance with the likes of So Percussion, Ethel, Taimur Sullivan, Phil Kline's Boomboxes, and others, and produced a soon-to-be released recording by the GVSU New Music Ensemble. More performances of the work coming in the fall too.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

The work, and the thinking behind it, have basically freed me as a composer. When I first heard it, even though it was 1988, I remember being astonished that someone was "allowed" to write this.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

Just look at this concert--In C has been programmed on the main stage of Carnegie Hall, performed by an all-star cast of incredibly diverse musicians from around the globe. This is not happening in 1964.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

We were asked to bring less-often used instruments--contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet, bass flute, and English horn. Do you know the solution to bringing these on airplanes from Michigan? Drive.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I've worked with a few before, Evan Ziporyn, the So crew. And you really want me to pick just one I'm looking forward to meeting? Impossible. But for starters, when I meet the man himself, Terry Riley, I hope to not be speechless.

Learn more about Bill Ryan here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 21, 2009

In C Interviews: Jon Gibson.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

Terry and I were very close during the time he was composing In C. I was just finished with University (SFSU) and Terry was a great inspiration and kind of unconscious teacher for me at that time. We were also performing together in a jazz band and in other pieces he was working on. Steve Reich introduced me to Terry when Terry returned to San Francisco in the early 60's. We were all very close at the time. I performed in the premiere of In C, plus all the local performances that occurred around that time. I knew it was a fantastic piece. We all did.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

It help change the direction of my thinking about music. It had a profound effect on me.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

In C eventually had a profound effect on the entire music world and influenced many composers, including myself. Of course, many other things have gone on as well in music not related to In C.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

Bb Soprano and Eb Sopranino Saxophones. I perform primarily on the saxophones.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I have performed with Philip Glass for many years and I understand that he is performing. I have also performed with a few of the others and look forward to meeting the ones I haven't met before. It should be a great evening.

Learn more about Jon Gibson here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 21, 2009

More In C Interviews! This morning: Kathleen Supove.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I keep thinking I must have heard it in college (the recording), but I don't remember it. What I do remember is Rainbow in Curved Air! I'm not sure I ever REALLY heard it until I played on it. I've played it......hm....3 times. The first time was with Crosstown Ensemble, a very cool group that had a short life in the mid 90s in New York. I used some kind of alt. keyboard with a Pig Nose amp. That's what I remember.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

There's probably a long answer to this questions, but it has encouraged me to continue the never-ending struggle to always listen and be aware of the MOMENT and your role in it. A great lesson to be learned for making this piece work AND a great lesson for life.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

This is a really unsubtle quick way of putting it: when it premiered, Terry and the other minimalists and minimalists-to-be were at the fringe. Music was either pop-rock OR classical OR jazz improv. And classical American music was either uptown serialism in academia or Aaron Copland and his Americana descendants. Over the years, the boundaries have become non-existent between all these musics, and I suppose one could make a good argument that minimalism was what really drove it. Terry and the minimalists WON!! So then, a piece like IN C is now left to be judged on its own merits: it doesn't have to make a case for why it's valid music. I think it has withstood the test of time incredibly well!

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

First is the celeste. We all know what that is, if we've heard The Nutcracker---it's the instrument in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy! I wanted to also play a clavinet, an electric harpsichord that we've heard in Superstition by Stevie Wonder. The thing is: they're a little unreliable as an instrument. The Nord Electro, a synth keyboard, does an incredible simulation of one (including the wah-wah pedal, the clunky release, and the "dirty" sound of it). So I guess you could say I'm also playing a clavinet by way of the Nord Electro!

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

Yes, I've worked with a few of the musicians. And I've certainly admired them all from afar! I look forward to meeting all the musicians I haven't met (one example that comes to mind is Stuart Dempster, whom I've heard about for so many years). In terms of playing with the people, I'm excited about playing with everyone, but especially the Kronos Quartet people! They set the bar, in terms of communicating new music to audiences. And of course, to perform In C with Terry Riley: well, that's something I'll be talking about when I'm 90!

Learn more about Kathleen Supove here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 20, 2009

Starting off the week with more In C interviews: Elena Moon Park.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I heard part of a recording of In C during college, which for me was only about 8 or 9 years ago. This was at a time when, after studying classical violin for almost 15 years, I realized that the traditional classical music route was not for me. Fortunately, I began to discover minimalism and contemporary music, along with improvised music. These discoveries in college eventually would convince me, after some years of hiatus, to return to the violin (and other instruments) and to musical performance. I only first heard the complete piece when I played it for fun as an opening activity at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute in 2005 (see below).

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

I first played In C as an opening group activity for the Bang on a Can Summer Institute in 2005. Since then, I have played the piece twice, both informally, with friends. This will be my first time performing the piece.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

I think In C introduced me to a different kind of group performance, at a time when I was branching away from traditional classical ensembles and starting to play more improvisation and new music. I immediately enjoyed the sensation of a freely moving, but at the same time, structured, sound. I was also drawn to the ability of the piece to sound drastically different based on the components of each individual performance. The piece introduced me to a freer musical form and one of my first powerful, almost meditative group performance experiences.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

I am probably one of the younger musicians in this performance, but I can offer my own experience of exploring music from before my time (which may or may not answer this question...). There are undoubtedly a lot of great new musical ideas today (that have been influenced by years of music-making), but, as a young performer, I am increasingly amazed by the vast musical growth that occurred in almost every musical world in the late 50s, 60s, and early 70s (and before that time, for improvised music). To a young performer, it seems like such a glorious and exciting time for music, and for me, it's interesting to repeatedly discover just how influential that era remains for music-making today. On a different note, one great thing about this performance of In C is the range of instruments from various cultural backgrounds. I'm sure this also happened in the 60s, but I'm also guessing that the world seems much smaller, or rather closer, today than in the past.

Tell me about the instrument you'll be playing.

The mandolin is a fantastic instrument; it's probably one of my favorite sounding string instruments. Being a lifelong violin player, picking up the mandolin was a thrilling experience. I learned to play the instrument relatively quickly, and it immediately opened up my musical world and my ear. I currently live a double musical life between the new music and folk rock worlds, and the mandolin is a fantastic crossover instrument. I know of one or two In C recordings that include mandolin, but it is indeed a less common instrument for the piece. I think it adds a great voice to the piece, especially with its tremolo.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I am, of course, very much looking forward to playing this piece with Terry Riley on stage. Quite an honor. It will also be great to see Wu Man and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan in action. I am particularly excited to play this performance because of a handful of participating musicians whom I credit with inspiring and pointing me towards music performance when I first moved to New York City. They come from somewhat separate musical worlds (Dave Douglas, who I studied under at the Banff Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music; Mark Stewart & Evan Ziporyn, both of whom I worked with at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute; and of course, Dan Zanes, who adopted me as a band member and encouraged my multi-instrumentalism and love of folk music), but they all made a big impact.

Learn more about Elena Moon Park here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 17, 2009

In C interviews - more So Percussion! This one's with Eric Beach.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I had already been in music school for a while when I heard In C for the first time, and the thing I really remember about that first hearing was thinking how familiar it sounded. There's an energy in it that makes me feel the way I feel when I hear Radiohead or Aphex Twin or U2, and at the same time there's a structure that is crystal clear. It seems like maybe those things weren't valued at the time the piece was written, but the fact that they are valued so highly now speaks to the fact that Terry Riley really knew what he was doing.

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

I've only ever played In C with friends, so this will be my first actual performance in a concert hall.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

For me one of the big influences is the actual notation. The solutions are just so elegant! The arch of the piece is so well controlled, and yet at the same time there's this vast space for each individual to breath life into his or her part. I strive as a musician to make those kind of simple yet entirely effective decisions every time I make music.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

That's a tough thing for me to comment on since I was born about half way between then and now. But I have to think that some good things have happened if we're celebrating pieces like this today.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

We've been getting interested in exploring all the possibilities that the score allows for. We've looked at a lot of different things, especially the possibility of unpitched percussion instruments as Riley allows for in the score.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I've performed with a few of the people who will be playing, but in general I'm astounded that I would be asked to be on stage with all of these people. It's a very kid-in-a-candy store moment for me.

Learn more about So Percussion here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 17, 2009

Today's In C interview is with our remarkable friend and collaborator Wu Man, pipa virtuoso.

When was the first time that you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that like?

Probably ten years ago was the first time I heard Terry Riley's In C. The experience was very interesting. I'd never heard that kind of music before. It was fun. That was the first time I played it, with Bang on a Can, for their recording of the piece.

How did In C influence you as a musician?

Actually, I think it quite influenced me, because first I thought, "Wow, music could be like that!" And to me, it's just a very smart way - to do anything that simple, but that makes sense. When you play individually it's actually very simple but with a group you can hear it's totally different....you can hear it's so powerful. So to me it was like, you know, "I'm a young musician from China, I'd never heard this kind of music," and I think I was totally blown away!

How has music changed since In C was first premiered in 1964?

I'd never heard that original version. But I think it definitely changed...there's a Chinese pipa, it definitely will change it! The instrumentation has changed - I heard another version where they all played Chinese traditional instruments. It was in Shanghai and it was very different and very interesting. I'm sure it definitely changed the style, the sound, the color of the instruments.

Tell me about the instrument that you'll be playing.

I will play the Chinese pipa. It's a lute-like plucking instrument with four strings. It basically sounds between a guitar, mandolin, banjo, harp, everything.

Is there anybody performing that you've worked with before?

Half of them! I looked at the list, and I think half of them are my friends!

So you've worked with Kronos, and Terry Riley, and who else?

The musicians from Bang on a Can, like Evan Ziporyn, and of course Sidney Chen, and Philip Glass, Dennis Russell Davies, Mark Stewart, and Stuart Dempster, I look at the names, like, a lot of, half of them are my collaborators. But I've never met Dan Zanes! I want to meet with him! I heard that he's amazing and all the kids' concerts are great. It's really exciting.

Learn more about Wu Man here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 16, 2009

In C Interviews: trombonist/composer Jacob Garchik!

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C, and what was that experience like?

The first time I heard and played In C was in 1990. I was 14 years old, enrolled in a composition class at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The instructor assembled a ragtag ensemble to play the piece at the end of the student recital. It was very tiring for a young brass player. It was also very fun. It created a beautiful dense sound which was thrilling to be in the middle of. The ensemble had all kinds of mismatched instruments who otherwise would never play together. You could also play as long as you wanted to, which was very appealing to me at that age.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

I think the idea of the freely repeated melodic cells of In C is very effective, and I use it all the time in my writing. It gives both the performer and the composer a feeling that they are in charge, not really favoring either one of them, which is very hard to do otherwise.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

In 1964 it was a cutting edge piece - now In C and the pieces that it led to seem to me to be pretty much in the mainstream of new classical music, not to mention the whole genres of minimalist pop music it spawned.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

I'm going to choose between a bunch of obscure brass instruments including the alto horn, tenor horn, and the more common trombone.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I've worked with Saskia Lane, Trevor Dunn, Michael Hearst, Wu Man, and Kronos before. I'm looking forward to meeting Stuart Dempster, who literally wrote the book on new music trombone playing.

Learn more about Jacob Garchik here, and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 16, 2009

Today's In C interview: Yang Yi, guzheng virtuoso.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

About 10 years ago. At first, I felt it was a very interesting piece (definitely not a "rejection" feeling though, because I was coming from a totally different music background than most of the western musicians). As I became more involved in working on contemporary music, I felt this was actually a revolutionary piece because it totally changed the way we musicians make most of our today's music.

Have you played In C before?

No. This will be my first time playing this piece on guzheng.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

Although Wu Man and I worked on Tan Dun's CAGE before (which involved a lot of improvisation on the "C", "A", "G", "E" 4 note pattern), this piece is still far more different than any kind of music that I have experienced in the past. Being a Chinese musician who came from the eastern music world, even though I was one of the earliest Chinese musicians who worked on contemporary and new music in the western world on guzheng, the uniqueness of this music style and the amount and the sensitivities of musicians' collaboratory work required for this piece have still opened a new door to me to further my music making approach. It's an eyes wide open experience.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

I may not be all correct on this. But I think the music world has since at least partially changed the way it's making music. It constantly exploring new ideas, allowing more open styles, adding more instruments from different cultural backgrounds, and encouraging more collaborations between musicians.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

The guzheng (Chinese Zither) is a long bridged instrument with varying sizes and different numbers of strings. I will be playing the most popular 21-stringed guzheng. The lilting and evocative sounds of the zheng make it one of the most popular Chinese musical instruments. It is most often performed solo, or used in folk ensemble music and large orchestral compositions. Literary references trace the zheng to the 3rd century B.C. in the northern Qin region (today's Shanxi province). Today, most instruments have from twenty-one to twenty-five strings. The strings pass over individual bridges, which can be moved to adjust pitch. In general, the right hand plucks the strings (using fingernails, artificial nails or plectra ) while the left hand executes vibrato or presses the strings on the left side of the bridges to change pitch or create sliding notes. But more and more composers today have begun assigning the left hand to take part of the melody on the right side of the bridges. Music of the zheng is differentiated into regional styles. The most notable of these are the Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, Kejia and Chaozhou styles.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

Yes, I've worked with my long time friend Wu Man. Of course, I look forward to working with Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and of course all other musicians who I will be playing for the first time.

Learn more about Yang Yi here and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 15, 2009

Our next In C interview: vocalist Joan La Barbara, a composer/sound artist/performer who specializes in experimental and extended vocal techniques.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I heard it first on the recording - the Buffalo Creative Associates. I was still in school at the time it was released but I remember thinking it was very hip and definitely genre-crossing.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

In C is the classic "minimalist anthem" - flexible, iconic, deceptively simple, joyous, open and accessible. There are so many works that were influenced in some way, by composers from Julius Eastman to Fred Rzewski.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

Terry has added "lyrics" for the vocalists. It should be fun to try to coordinate those, as there are a number of vocal soloists as well as the Young Peoples Chorus who will be singing.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

I use my voice; it is my instrument. You know, "voice is the original instrument" has been my motto and manifesto for nearly 40 years.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I'm looking forward to playing with Kronos again - it has been nearly 25 years since we premiered Mort Subotnick's Jacob's Room in its original version - for voice and string quartet. And of course I'm looking forward to singing with Terry, who always performs with such joy, and with Judy Sherman. Judy and I sang together in the early 70's with Steve Reich on his work, Drumming. And it will be fun to perform with Jon Gibson and Phil Glass again, with whom I worked in the 70's. And I'm looking forward to working with Evan Ziporyn and I'm very curious to see how the Young People's Chorus of New York will work with this material. It should be a fantastic performance!

Learn more about Joan La Barbara here and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 15, 2009

This morning's In C interview: Michael Hearst. Read on to learn about the Theremin, claviola, and bass melodica. (What *is* a claviola, anyway?)

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but I hadn't really spent any time with In C until right after David Harrington invited me to this concert. I immediately bought a copy of the 1968 recording of In C by Members of the Creative & Performing Arts at SUNY-Buffalo & Terry Riley. It has since become one of my favorite things to listen to while I'm at the gym. I find that the tempo and minimalistic nature of the piece lend themselves nicely to my jogging pace. At the same time, I also find the piece very calming. I've been listening to it a bunch on airplanes. I hate flying.

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

Well, I ran through it the other day to make sure I knew the parts. Does that count? Seriously, one of the brilliant things about this piece is that it's not really about knowing how to play a difficult passage. It's all about the group effort. You follow the rules, and you pay attention to each other. It seems to be as much about listening as it is about playing.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

I have no doubt that In C will be influential on me as a composer. I've always been extremely fascinated by the idea of setting up parameters within music--a set of guidelines, as opposed to a strict score. It forces the musicians to come up with ideas that they might not normally come up with on their own. This piece does also has the added bonus of allowing artistic decisions to be made by any combination of performers and instruments. The ensemble essentially gets to steer the ship. A very generous concept by Mr. Riley. In many ways, its much larger than just writing a traditional score. It's more like opening a small business and then letting the employees take-over.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

The claviola was invented! (That's the instrument I'll be playing, along with the Theremin and the bass melodica. ; )

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

Funny you should ask! I'll be switching between three instruments: Theremin, claviola, and bass melodica. The Theremin is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments, first introduced in the 1920s by a Russian inventor named Leon Theremin. It is perhaps the only musical instruments that you don't actually touch to play! Instead, by moving your hands next to a set of antennas, radio frequencies are controlled, and a sound similar to a cello or a soprano voice is created. I'll also be playing the Hohner Claviola. Only about fifty of these were ever manufactured. I happened to be working at Hohner as a technician in the 90s when this instrument was unveiled, and subsequently the Claviola was almost immediately discontinued. The claviola is a mouth-blown instrument similar to a melodica, however it is worn like an accordion. There is a row of vertical piano keys for the right hand, but there are no buttons or bellows on the left side. Instead there are pipes, which shape the free-reed sound into a much smoother timbre. It sounds a bit like the flute setting on a Mellotron (think intro to Strawberry Fields), and looks like something you would see in the cantina scene in Star Wars. The third instrument I will play is the bass melodica. It's similar to a regular melodica, but is smaller and an octave lower.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

My home base is a small venue in Brooklyn, NY called Barbes. I'm excited to see that there are a couple other Barbes friends/regulars on this event: Jacob Garchik and Trevor Dunn. I also know Dan Zanes and Mark Stuart. I'm really excited to meet everybody, especially Morton Subotnick, Wu Man, Phillip Glass, and Osvaldo Golijov. Good company, by all means.

Learn more about Michael Hearst here and purchase tickets to the April 24 Carnegie Hall performance here.

April 14, 2009

Next up: Stuart Dempster - sound gatherer, trombonist, composer, and didjeriduist.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I may have first heard it at the premiere in Nov 1964 but it was likely only on the second night. Whenever I heard it the first time, or any of those early times, it was life changing.

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

I have played In C many times. I have organized several performances of In C over the years, including with the Creative Associates at SUNY Buffalo in October 1967. This particular performance led to the landmark recording in 1968 on Columbia (now Sony). Making that recording was amazing. There were overdubs, that is, I played on that recording three times. In the space of three days we played a rehearsal, followed by the three "playings" of the piece (eventually overdubbed) and each of those "playings" was followed by listening to each of our takes. It was a total of seven "listenings" over those three days. Talk about life altering--it was rattling around in my head for weeks afterwards and I loved every moment of it. When I first played In C is a little murky. Many people, including me, all these years thought that I played the premiere. Recently, through a lengthy deductive process (documented somewhat in the forthcoming book on In C by Robert Carl, Oxford Univ Press), I determined that I did not play the premier but, rather, played In C in a nearly identical concert about six months later in May of 1965. In those early days the piece was only played at the written pitch. Either Terry suggested that I should give the piece a try (in May 1965) or I begged him to let me try it; I don't remember. I devised various ways to play In C at pitch by judiciously altering the fragments - sometimes playing "fragments of the fragments", if you will, in such a way as to interlink with others - in order to navigate the piece at the written pitch. I also would "arrive early" and "leave late" at the most playable fragments. It all worked out rather well.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

Although it is difficult to pinpoint any direct influence I know it has influenced me to my core. I went to school (SF State) in the 1950s with Terry Riley (and Pauline Oliveros) so I was influenced by Terry well before In C. I remember going over to his house one day, probably about 1962 or 63, and he had a couple of tape recorders hooked up to do loops, one of them likely an old Viking 88 (which I later acquired from him and still have, but I digress). Neither of us could believe the crazy looping he was working with and we were both laughing over it all. Hard to imagine that kind of craziness and how that kind of process and thinking morphed into compositions such as In C but it seems like that is what happened. I don't know whether Terry would agree with that scenario but from my point of view as a very green performer - and even greener composer - it seemed "logical". All of that experience may have contributed to aspects of my composing.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

The main change to In C is that octave displacements began to be used, possibly as early as the very late 1960s but certainly by the 1970s. But how music itself has changed is well documented. The San Francisco Chronicle's Alfred Frankenstein got it right when he marked In C as a major turning point in music - and this was before the turning point was actually recognized as such by anyone else.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

This upcoming In C performance is the first that I am aware of where "alternative instruments" are being encouraged. I personally will be playing some trombone, but I will also be using didjeridus pitched in C and in G along with conches (shells) appropriately pitched. I also have a few small instruments, such as Tibetan cymbals and other bells, that I will have along if there are appropriate moments where they may be fitted in. Regarding the didjeridus and shells, my son Loren and I will coordinate our uses of shells and didjeridus. We can span each other for didjeridu use, and with the conches we can realize fragments by coordinating our efforts.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I played In C in the early days with Mort Subotnick. Also Jon Gibson. In the "later" early days with Katrina Krimsky (aka Marge Hassell). Also with Kronos in a performance in San Francisco many years ago. In various non-In C contexts I have worked with my son Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, Wu Man, and others.

April 13, 2009

Next in our series of In C interviews - Jason Treuting of So Percussion.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I took a great music history class my freshman year that opened my eyes to lots of great music. The In C day was wonderful. I was totally energized by what I heard and psyched to see a score presented in that way. We read through it as a class and I was amazed by how the piece worked. I am still amazed every time I play it that it works so well and what can come out of that score that sounds so diverse and is always In C.

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

I played it first as a student at Eastman and then So had the chance to play it on a festival with a whole cast of great players at Bill Ryan's Open Ears marathon. That was the first time we played it as a group.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

As a quartet, we've been working on music of the past 50ish years and playing lots of music of now. It always strikes me how composers deal with control. In percussion music of the last 50ish years, lots of composers have solved that problem in interesting ways, discovering when they can hand some control of instruments or timbres or even structure, etc over to the performer and when they need to be in complete control of the score. As I've been composing more and more, I have been trying to answer that question for myself. When do I need to be in control and when can I give it up? Terry Riley answered this question in such a wonderful way in In C. He is in such control of the arc of the piece, but he gives the performers such a great freedom to find their voice in the music as well. Every time I play it, I am astounded by the perfect balance he struck with his answer to this question.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

What was scandalous at the time is now accepted and there is no more room for scandal. The minimalist scene was a challenge to the establishment of its time. Now, at least where I am at in NYC, it is the groundwork of so much of the music that is made. And so many things have been thrown out there to shock and awe the establishment, there isn't much room to challenge any more. It seems like now it is about having many options on the table and finding what works for you as a musician and how you want to make sense of these options. It seems that any time So thinks we are doing something for the first time, we soon discover it has been done before. So now it seems less about discovering the undiscovered and more about finding fresh ways to combine what has already been discovered. Please don't hold me to this in ten years, but that seems to be where I am at now.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

We are still searching for all the right sounds to bring to the show. We will undoubtedly have a mix of standards like vibes and marimbas combined with some much unique additions of tuned pipes, break drums and some drums as well. I think Josh may break out some steel drums as well.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

We had the chance to play with Dave Douglas a bit ago, which was pretty wonderful. I have been a fan of his since I was in college. It was a dream to work with him. It is always fun to play with Evan Ziporyn and Mark Stewart. We've worked with both in the past in different ways and are inspiring musicians. And Bryce Dessner is someone who I crossed paths with at school and now I listen to him obsessively with the National and this new track he put out with Antony. Very cool. I am looking forward to playing with Wu Man, and Dan Zanes (my nephews are huge fans, as am I). The crew David Harrington has put together is super impressive and I am flattered to be a part of it.

April 13, 2009

Kronos is excited to have curated an amazing collection of musicians to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Terry Riley's In C, and we'll be performing with them at Carnegie Hall on Friday, April 24 at 8 PM. We've collected interviews with many of the musicians who will be joining us, and we'll be posting one or two each day leading up to the concert next week. The first interview we'll share is with Katrina Krimsky, who joined Terry for the original 1968 recording of In C. She'll play "the pulse" for the Carnegie Hall performance.

When was the first time you heard Terry Riley's In C? What was that experience like?

I first experienced In C in 1968 when I simultaneously listened and performed it. The piece was something totally new, refreshing, challenging, and exciting. There are very few moments in musical history when such a new idea appears and what a thrill to experience it.

Have you played In C? When did you play it for the first time?

I first played In C with the performing ensemble in Buffalo and in New York in 1968 followed by the recording of In C for Columbia Records. In the 80's, I organized and led the first performance of In C in Switzerland at the Rathaus in Schaffhausen. As "The Pulse", I performed In C on the Minimalist Jukebox Festival, March 2006 at Disney Concert Hall in LA.

How has In C influenced you as a musician/composer?

The piece is inspirational. As a classical artist, I was accustomed to traditional classical musical forms and to 20th century contemporary music. In C is unique having a very clear and simple linear form which has inspired my own pattern music.

How has music changed since In C first premiered in 1964?

In C brought a new awareness and its influence could and can be heard throughout various musical genres.

Tell me about the instrument(s) you'll be playing.

A grand piano.

Is there anyone performing that you've worked with before? Anyone you're looking forward to meeting for the first time?

I performed In C before with Stuart Dempster, and of course Terry Riley. In addition to being in their company again, I am delighted to be performing with the Kronos Quartet, several musicians I haven't seen in some years, and many marvelous artists whom I look forward to meeting.

Learn more about Katrina Krimsky here. Purchase tickets to the Carnegie Hall performance here.

February 17, 2009

We're excited to announce the release of 4AD's Dark Was The Night, available today! Curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner, the album features Kronos' performance of the title track (listen on MySpace & Facebook), plus 30 more exclusive tracks including music by The National, Andrew Bird, Yo La Tengo, Feist, and Beirut. 

The list of artists is top notch, including several collaborations. Here's the line-up:

Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

All proceeds benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease - using music as a great vehicle to raise both money and awareness for it.

Purchase the album from Amazon.com or iTunes, and listen to excerpts on MySpace (Kronos Quartet | Dark Was The Night) and Facebook.

January 23, 2009

Several exciting Kronos performances were announced yesterday - five concerts at Carnegie Hall, a world premiere by Thomas Newman at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and two performances at Cincinnati's MusicNOW festival, including a new work by Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry!

Carnegie Hall just announced their 2009/2010 season, which includes Perspectives: Kronos Quartet and a Professional Training Workshop presented by The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. The series begins on Nov 3, with the world premiere of Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng and featuring Wu Man (pipa.) The series continues in April, featuring Margaret Leng Tan and Victor Gama (Mar 12), an evening of music from the Far North (Mar 13), and music that channels the spiritual, including artists from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Korea (Mar 14.)

On November 21 the Los Angeles Philharmonic presents Kronos at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the John Adams-curated West Coast: Left Coast festival's kick-off concert. The performance features the world premiere of a new work by composer Thomas Newman, plus a few guests - both our friends Matmos and Kronos' longtime collaborator Terry Riley.

Finally, the MusicNOW Festival is happening in Cincinnati March 11 and 12, 2009. Kronos will perform both nights, including a world premiere by Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry. Other artists featured during the festival include the Books, and Toumani Diabate.

For more info, visit Carnegie Hall, the LA Philharmonic, and MusicNOW.

January 7, 2009

Kronos will perform Terry Riley's Sun Rings at UNESCO in Paris on Friday, January 16, 2009 at 7:30 pm, and we're giving away 50 pairs of tickets! This private performance is part of the launching of the International Year of Astronomy, and we're thrilled to participate in the opening events.

Sun Rings, written by longtime Kronos collaborator and "father" of the minimalist movement Terry Riley, features celestial sounds which came from plasma wave receivers built by physicist Don Gurnett and flown on spacecraft over a period of 40 years. Sun Rings also features visual design by Willie Williams, including images from NASA's archives. (View performance photos on Flickr.)

We have a limited number of free tickets to this Paris performance, and we're sharing them with you. The first 50 people to respond via email will receive a pair of concert tickets to this UNESCO performance for themselves and a guest. This is a private performance, so tickets are not available to purchase.

To request a pair of tickets, please email announcements@kronosquartet.org, with the subject line "Paris Sun Rings - KQ.org", and include your name and email address in the body of your message. You will receive confirmation and ticket information via email. All requests must be received by Monday, January 12. These tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis.

December 5, 2008

We're excited to be performing at Carnegie Hall this evening, so we've posted some of the music to MySpace that will be featured tonight, just to share with you!

Glenn Kotche, percussionist/rock drummer extraordinaire of the Grammy-winning rock band Wilco, will be joining us for the New York premiere of his piece Anomaly for string quartet and drum kit.

Kronos is also performing George Crumb's legendary Black Angels, which until this fall, Kronos had not performed live for more than a decade. The piece - a highly unorthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, and electronic effects - was the inspiration for David Harrington to form Kronos in 1973.

Come join us at Carnegie Hall tonight, or visit our MySpace page and take a listen to Anomaly and Black Angels!

October 28, 2008

We're excited to announce the release of Kronos Plays Holmgreen featuring the works of Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, available in stores today. Gudmundsen-Holmgreen is one of the leading contemporary Scandinavian composers, an insistent voice from the generation born in the inter-war years. 

The recording is the culmination of 20 years of collaboration between Gudmundsen-Holmgreen and Kronos, and includes his Concerto Grosso for string quartet and orchestra featuring Thomas Dausgaard and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Moving Still (H.C. Andersen 200), featuring baritone Paul Hillier; and Last Ground, Gudmundsen-Holmgreen's ninth string quartet, written in 2006 and dedicated to Kronos.

Moving Still (H.C. Andersen 200) (listen / watch) was commissioned for the celebration of the Hans Christian Andersen bicentenary in 2005. Moving Still is in two movements: one American and one Danish. The starting point for this encounter is  Andersen’s prescient piece of speculative fiction In a Thousand Years; a Jules Verne-like futuristic fantasy about how Americans will one day be able to fly over the Atlantic and “do Europe in a week."

The second movement Still is a portrait of “the Old World” using the text of Hans Christian Andersen’s patriotic poem I Danmark er jeg født (In Denmark I Was Born). The hymmlike Danish song landscape of Still is infected by boogie-woogie, then transformed into an Arabic melody. Notably, the piece was written for and features the English baritone Paul Hillier, who now lives in Denmark.

Listen and watch excerpts from Kronos Plays Holmgreen. Purchase the album on Amazon and Classics Online.

October 17, 2008

BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a program featuring Kronos and the Alim Qasimov Ensemble on Saturday, Oct 18 at 3 pm BST. Listen live!

September 30, 2008

This Friday, October 3 Kronos performs Awakening: A Musical Meditation on the Anniversary of 9/11 at UCLA's Royce Hall at 8 PM, presented by UCLA Live. First performed on the fifth anniversary of September 11th, this musical response to the events of that day pulls together music from more than a dozen nations, including Iraq, Germany, Argentina, Sweden, Iran, and the United States.

“Most of us carry within ourselves an alarming movie replaying the events of September 11, 2001,” says David Harrington, Artistic Director. “Kronos offers a new soundtrack to this internal movie. Using this musical diversity as a tool, we want to open windows on an expansive interior place, a place where we can be surrounded by a wealth of musical perspectives. We also hope to find a location that one's inner ear can return to whenever the alarming movie from that horrific day replays itself.”

Composers featured include Argentinians Oscar-winner Gustavo Santaolalla and Grammy-winner Osvaldo Golijov (Darkness 9/11 from the film 11'09"01); Americans Michael Gordon (The Sad Park) and Terry Riley (One Earth, One People, One Love from Sun Rings); and the Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen (Winter Was Hard).

Tickets start at $28, with discounts available to students. To learn more and buy tickets, please visit UCLA Live's website or call 310.825.2101.

"All is not well in the world, and Kronos, which played with searing intensity all evening, does not pretend that it is. But hope springs from understanding, from open ears. [Awakening's] wake-up call demands wide dissemination." -Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times

September 3, 2008

We're thrilled to announce our 08/09 season! Kronos will perform all over the US and in 8 other countries this year, so visit our website to see if we'll be performing in a city near you! 

On September 26 Kronos opens the Ramadan Nights festival at the Barbican in London with the world premiere of a new collaboration between Kronos and Alim Qasimov, one of Azerbaijan's best-known and most beloved singers. The performance will include solo sets by both Kronos and the Alim Qasimov Ensemble, featuring Fargana Qasimova (vocals). The evening will culminate with all of the musicians performing the world premiere collaboration, commissioned by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, featuring arrangements of Azeri bardic songs.

Throughout the fall Kronos will be performing George Crumb's legendary Black Angels, which they have not performed live for more than a decade. The piece - a highly unorthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, and electronic effects - was the inspiration for David Harrington to form Kronos in 1973. Black Angels has been reimagined throughout Kronos' history, and this fall the group will debut a new staging of the work. Kronos performs Black Angels at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD (Oct 30), the Easton Center in Easton, PA (Nov 19), and Carnegie Hall in New York, NY (Dec 5.)

In honor of the 45th anniversary of Terry Riley's In C, Kronos has curated a special performance of Riley's groundbreaking minimalist work at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium on April 24. This one-time-only performance of In C features Kronos, Terry Riley, and original In C performers Stuart Dempster, Jon Gibson, and Pauline Oliveros, plus Dennis Russell Davies, Dave Douglas, Jacob Garchik, Michael Hearst, Samuli Kosminen, Margaret Leng Tan, Aaron Shaw, Kathleen Supové, Wu Man, Yi Yang, Evan Ziporyn, Quartet New Generation, So Percussion, members of the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, and many others. 

Other highlights this season include performances of Awakening in Los Angeles, CA (Oct 3) and Gainesville, FL (Sept 10), the world premiere of a new work by Terry Riley in Notre Dame, IN (Mar 27 & 28), Alternative Radio featuring David Barsamian and Diane Wilson in College Park, MD (Nov 2) and Denver, CO (Nov 8), and Philip Glass's Dracula in Calgary, AB (Jan 23).

Visit our website for more information & Kronos' complete 08/09 season schedule!

August 19, 2008

Kronos is a founding member of the Future of Music Coalition's Rock the Net campaign. Our artistic administrator Sidney Chen recently spoke with FMC about why net neutrality needs to be preserved. Learn more here.

July 27, 2008

"For every person, his country is very dear. Everything about Afghanistan — its dust, its weather, its people — I miss all of it. When I have my instrument next to me, I feel the scent of my country."

—Homayoun Sakhi

Come join us on August 1 & 2 for Music Without Borders, a full weekend of music and events at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, CA! YBCA's Bay Area Now 5 festival features two Kronos performances, including a special collaboration on August 2 with Homayoun Sakhi, one of the finest Afghan musicians of his generation. The weekend also includes two film screenings and a listening party with David Harrington.

The performance on Friday, August 1 at 8 pm features music from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, India, and Kazakhstan. Three new instruments, one of them based on the Ethiopian begena, were designed and built for the Kronos Quartet by Bay Area sound artist Walter Kitundu. (View photos of the instruments on Facebook.)

On Saturday night, special guest Homayoun Sakhi joins Kronos in the world premiere of Rangin Kaman (The Rainbow), co-commissioned by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and YBCA. Sakhi, formerly of Kabul, Afghanistan and currently residing in Fremont, CA, counts among the world’s best players of the Afghan rubâb, a double-chambered lute.

The weekend also includes two films — Half Moon and Breaking the Silence: Music in Afghanistan — dealing with what it means to be a musician in Iran and Afghanistan, a listening party with David Harrington, and more.

Learn more about Music Without Borders & purchase tickets here.

July 23, 2008

How often do you get a chance to lounge on a lawn and eat barbecue while listening to Kronos?

Kronos performs this Sunday afternoon at 4 PM at Rancho Nicasio in Marin County, and we'd love for you to join us! Rancho Nicasio, known for its fantastic barbecue, is a classic bar and restaurant located amidst the rolling hills of West Marin County. Kronos always has a wonderful time performing at Rancho Nicasio, and we'd love you to join us at this year's concert.

The program features a wide variety of music, including pieces by Clint Mansell (of Requiem for a Dream fame), Hamza El Din's Escalay (Waterwheel), featured on our best-selling album Pieces of Africa, and an arrangement of Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight.

Kronos goes on at 4 PM this Sunday, July 27. Tickets are still available: $25 each, with food available to purchase. To order tickets, please call Rancho Nicasio at 415.662.2219.

Rancho Nicasio is located at 1 Old Rancheria Road, Nicasio, CA 94946. Detailed directions to Rancho Nicasio can be found at their website.

July 16, 2008

Listen to live performances of Aleksandra Vrebalov's ...hold me, neighbor, in this storm... and Under 30 #4 recipient Aviya Kopelman's Widows & Lovers on Carnegie Hall's website. Both works were commissioned by Carnegie Hall and premiered last February.

July 8, 2008

Kronos appears on Keeril Makan's debut album In Sound, available in stores now. Throughout the album, Makan explores the connections between noise, sound, and emotion while exploring his Indian and Jewish musical roots. Kronos is featured on both The Noise Between Thoughts, an electronic sound world evoked through purely acoustic means, and Washed By Fire, an examination of cultural identity.

Makan draws from the diverse worlds of American folk music, European avant-garde, Indian classical music, and minimalism. Evident throughout the album is the continuum between noise and purity of sound. According to Makan, in these works there is no formal logic other than careful attunement to what the ear and body dictate.

Learn more and purchase Keeril Makan's In Sound here.

June 11, 2008

We're excited to announce our summer tour dates! Kronos performs all over North America this summer, so take a look at our upcoming tour dates and see if we'll be playing near you.

Kronos' summer begins in Toronto, where the group will be joined by Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq for two performances of Nunavut at the Luminato Festival on June 12 and June 13. Nunavut, an evening-length program, explores the clarity, directness, and color of music from the far north, featuring works by Derek Charke (Canada), Kimmo Pohjonen (Finland), Sigur Ros (Iceland), Xploding Plastix (Norway), and the world premiere of a piece by Hurdy-Gurdy (Sweden), commissioned for Kronos by Luminato.

During Bay Area Now 5, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents Music Without Borders on August 1 and 2 in San Francisco. As part of a full weekend of events, Kronos’ solo performance on Friday night features music from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, India, and Kazakhstan. On Saturday night, Kronos performs with special guest Homayoun Sakhi in the world premiere of a work co-commissioned by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and YBCA. Sakhi, formerly of Kabul, Afghanistan, counts among the world’s finest players of the rubâb, a lute-like instrument used in Afghan music. The weekend also includes two films about what it means to be a musician in Iran and Afghanistan, a listening party with Kronos' Artistic Director David Harrington, and more.

Kronos will be playing several of your favorite festivals this summer as well. For the first time in several years, Kronos returns to the Tanglewood Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts on August 14, where they'll perform music by Steve Reich, John Zorn, and Sigur Ros. On September 3, Kronos will appear at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche joins Kronos for the Chicago premiere of his piece Anomaly for string quartet and drum kit. Also on the program are works by John Adams, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and a world premiere by Hanna Kulenty.

Take a look at our upcoming tour dates for more information and a complete list of summer tour dates.

February 5, 2008

“One day I was talking with [Terry] and he said he wanted [his next] piece to be ‘magical.’ My granddaughter Emily was an infant at the time. We had little toys and noisemakers around the house, which we would play as I carried her around. Of all the experiences I’ve had, that is the most magical. ‘Why don’t you just come over, and we’ll play some of Emily’s toys?’ I said.”

-- David Harrington
Artistic Director, Kronos Quartet

This is was the spark that led to The Cusp of Magic by Terry Riley, now available on Nonesuch Records. Commissioned for Kronos on the occasion of our longtime friend and collaborator Terry Riley’s 70th birthday, the piece features Kronos joined by Wu Man on pipa (a Chinese plucked string instrument, similar to a lute), with all musicians also playing a variety of percussion instruments, toys, and noisemakers.

David Harrington adds that “no composer has been as much a part of Kronos as Terry Riley. We first met at Mills College in 1978, and he has written 23 works for us so far." Kronos premiered The Cusp of Magic in 2005, and the piece was performed at Carnegie Hall as part of Kronos’ 2006 Live Mix series. The Cusp of Magic will be performed on February 17 at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at University of Maryland, College Park.

Listen to excerpts of Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic on our website. Click here to purchase The Cusp of Magic via our website or iTunes.

November 27, 2007

On November 20th Interscope Records released Nine Inch Nails' Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (Year Zero Remixed), featuring the Kronos Quartet and Enrique Gonzalez Müller's remix of Another Version of the Truth.

Spun off from Year Zero, the #2-charting album issued last spring, Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D includes a diverse array of remixers, from Joy Division and New Order's Stephen Morris to hip-hop poet Saul Williams; from avant-garde leader Bill Laswell, electronica's Olof Dreijer from The Knife, Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino and post-punk revivalists The Faint to an unknown fan who submitted a remix via the Internet.

"I'm very pleased with the way it turned out," says Trent Reznor. "I reached out to heroes, friends and strangers....I encouraged those I approached to do anything and insert themselves as much as possible into the track. It's always interesting for me to hear my work reinterpreted -- I hope it is for you as well."

Fans can even reinterpret and remix Year Zero themselves. The CD package for Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D includes a DVD-ROM containing every track from Year Zero in multi-track format, ready to be remixed, and a special Web site, remix.nin.com, will debut soon. Says Reznor, "Remixes and fun encouraged."

Listen to Kronos & Enrique Gonzalez Müller's remix of Another Version of the Truth on our website, Facebook, and MySpace. Purchase the album on Amazon and iTunes.

November 15, 2007

Be a Kronos fan on Facebook! We've put up a bunch of live & unreleased tracks that aren't available anywhere else on our new Facebook player. You can also listen to Another Version of the Truth, Kronos' contribution to the just-released Nine Inch Nails remix album.

Plus there's live concert footage of Kronos' performance from last month with Tom Waits at the 21st Annual Bridge School Benefit, which Rolling Stone called "the undisputed highlight of the concert." It was an amazing night, and we had a photographer on hand behind the scenes to document the show.

Come to www.facebook.com/kronosquartet and click on "Become a Fan"!

On October 27th & 28th Kronos will perform with Tom Waits at the 21st Annual Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA. Organized by Neil and Pegi Young, the concert features an amazing line-up of acoustic performances by Neil Young, Metallica, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Vedder with Flea & Jack Irons, John Mayer, Tegan & Sara, and Regina Spektor. Proceeds from the shows support the Bridge School, a school in northern California which assists mentally and physically handicapped children.

The last time Waits teamed up with Kronos was in 2003 for a concert at Lincoln Center in New York to benefit the humanitarian organization Healing the Divide. A live recording of the performance was released earlier this year, featuring Diamond In Your Mind and three additional Waits & Kronos tracks - Way Down in the Hole, God's Away on Business, and Lost in the Harbor. Don't miss a rare opportunity to hear Waits & Kronos perform live together!

Read more about the concert on the Bridge School Benefit website. Tickets are available through Livenation and Ticketmaster. Listen to Tom Waits & Kronos performance of God's Away On Business on our MySpace page.

Kronos is thrilled to be performing with composer and percussionist Glenn Kotche -- a.k.a. the Grammy-winning band Wilco's drummer -- at the SFJAZZ Festival in San Francisco next week! His new piece for string quartet and drum kit, titled Anomaly, will receive its world premiere performance at Herbst Theater on October 25 and 26.

After hearing Kotche's album Mobile, which included elements of Balinese storytelling, Reich-influenced minimalism, and insect sounds, David Harrington of Kronos asked him to write something for Kronos. Composing the piece while on tour with Wilco, Kotche has Kronos exploring new sonic territory -- including bowing and ringing handbells. “Some parts are beautiful," Kotche says, "things I couldn’t play on drums. That’s the way I treated the whole thing: four players in the quartet. I have each player to act like a limb to explore rhythmic ideas. If I could have a violin be my right hand and a cello be my left foot, what would it sound like?” Kotche, heralded by the Chicago Tribune for his "unfailing taste, technique and discipline," will share the stage with Kronos at these performances.

Also joining Kronos at the SFJAZZ festival will be instrument builder and sound artist Walter Kitundu, whose Cerulean Sweet III honors jazz great Charles Mingus through the use of snippets of his piano improvisations on vinyl played by Kronos and Kitundu on phonoharps, the instruments created by Kitundu for this piece. The concert will also feature the US premiere of Sinawi by Bay Area performance artist Dohee Lee, who will join Kronos on stage for these shows, a new arrangement of Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight by Randall Woolf, music by cartoon music master Raymond Scott and cartoon music-influenced John Zorn, and a rare performance of Kronos's legendary version of Television's Marquee Moon. Don't miss it!

To learn more and purchase tickets, visit SFJAZZ's website.

September 4, 2007

On September 4, Nonesuch Records releases Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Rós exclusively on iTunes. The two pieces included on this download-only release have both been staples of Kronos' live concerts for several years, but have never been available for purchase: an arrangement of Icelandic experimental rock group Sigur Rós' Flugufrelsarinn and a Jimi Hendrix-inspired version of The Star-Spangled Banner.

"I first heard Sigur Rós in 2000 and it was thrilling," said David Harrington, Kronos founder and artistic director. "I could not stop listening to them. Kronos had to play their music. Sigur Rós create entire universes with their sound: imaginary places populated by desires and colors and feelings that belong solely to the fleetingly understood realm of music."

In 2002 Kronos commissioned an arrangement of Flugufrelsarinn from the Ágætis Byrjun album. In its original, sung version, Flugufrelsarinn relates a parable of salvation and sacrifice, in which an unnamed narrator tries to rescue helpless flies in a lake from the jaws of the approaching salmon. In Stephen Prutsman's arrangement for Kronos, the work takes on a new delicateness while losing none of its essential mystery.

The Quartet has been playing its Prutsman/Kronos version of The Star-Spangled Banner - inspired by Jimi Hendrix's famous Woodstock interpretation - in concert since 2003. The Los Angeles Times called a recent performance of the piece, "a fiery political protest that recalled (Kronos') roots."

Click here to purchase Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Rós, and click here to listen to Flugufrelsarinn.

We're excited to announce our 2007/2008 tour dates! Kronos will be performing all over the world this season, so visit our website to check if Kronos will be performing near you.

This September Kronos will perform Awakening, a musical meditation on the anniversary of the events of 9/11, at Clarice Smith Center Performing Arts Center on Friday, September 7, and at Duke University on Friday, September 14. Awakening, a special program with works from 12 countries, includes the title composition from longtime Kronos collaborator, Uzbek composer Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky. Other composers featured on the program include Argentinians Grammy-winner Osvaldo Golijov and Oscar-winner Gustavo Santaolalla (from the film Darkness 9/11); Americans Michael Gordon (The Sad Park) and Terry Riley (One Earth, One People, One Love, the concluding section of Sun Rings); and the Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen (Winter Was Hard). For music, video, interviews, and more information about Awakening, visit the Clarice Smith Center's website.

On October 3, 5, and 6, the BAM Next Wave Festival presents Kronos Quartet : More Than Four with special guest collaborators Kimmo Pohjonen, Samuli Kosminen, and Erik Sanko. Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and sampling artist Samuli Kosminen join Kronos for Uniko, a US premiere composed by Pohjonen and Kosminen which explores the concept of dreams using the sounds of accordion, strings, and samples, alongside light and video. A world premiere commissioned by BAM for the 25th Next Wave Festival, Dear Mme., is staged and composed by Erik Sanko-theater artist (The Fortune Teller), musician (John Lurie's Lounge Lizards, junk-rock band Skeleton Key), and puppet-maker. Featuring Kronos and a fifteen-foot puppet, Dear Mme., is the story of a writer who continually endeavors to rewrite his own life story and win the heart of a beautiful woman.

Three guest artists will join Kronos for performances at the SFJAZZ Festival in San Francisco on October 25th and 26th: Glenn Kotche, Walter Kitundu, and Dohee Lee. Kotche, composer and drummer for the Grammy-winning band Wilco, will join Kronos for the world premiere of Anomaly, written by Kotche for Kronos. Musician, vocalist, and performance artist Lee will accompany Kronos for the US premiere of Sinawi. In Kitundu's work Cerulean Sweet III - inspired by a few snippets of Charles Mingus' piano improvisations - artist, musician, and instrument builder Kitundu will join Kronos in playing phonoharps that have been created especially by Kitundu for the five of them.

On November 10, Kronos will perform all three of Górecki's string quartets in the course of one evening in Górecki's hometown of Katowice, Poland, with the composer in attendance. All three of Górecki's string quartets - Already It Is Dusk (Quartet No. 1), Quasi una Fantasia (Quartet No. 2), and Piesni Spiewaja ("...songs are sung") (Quartet No. 3) - were written especially for Kronos. The three quartets have never been performed like this before.

Other fall highlights include a performance of Visual Music in Mexico City, and performances in Zurich, Budapest, and Copenhagen.

Click here for a complete list of 2007 / 2008 tour dates.

July 11, 2007

Healing the Divide: Tom Waits + Kronos

In September 2003, Kronos teamed up with Tom Waits for a concert at Lincoln Center in New York to benefit the humanitarian organization Healing the Divide, and a live recording of the performance was released on July 10th. The full album, Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, features the single Diamond In Your Mind and three additional Waits & Kronos tracks - Way Down in the Hole, God's Away on Business, and Lost in the Harbor. Other performers that night included Philip Glass, Anoushka Shankar, and Foday Musa Suso.

The concert featuring this rare collaboration between Kronos and Waits, with bassist Greg Cohen, was the culmination of a 20-day U.S. tour by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. About his participation in the event, Waits said (in his inimitable style), "I'm no fool. It's a spiritual insurance policy. Hell, at my age, the next group I put together, everyone may be playing a harp. All kidding aside, I owed His Holiness a favor. He did all my papers in school."

Proceeds from the sales of the album will benefit Healing the Divide (a non-profit organization formed by Richard Gere in 2001 to generate innovative appraches to solving humanitarian crises) and its Tibetan Health Initiative, which provides health insurance to Buddhist monks and nuns.

Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and eMusic. Listen to Diamond In Your Mind on our Myspace page.

Osvaldo Golijov: Oceana

Kronos is also featured on Oceana, a collection of three major works by composer Osvaldo Golijov. The album was also released this Tuesday, on Deutsche Grammophon, and features Kronos' performance of Tenebrae, a two-movement work for string quartet. In addition to Tenebrae, the album includes Golijov's Oceana performed by Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Three Songs, performed by soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, both conducted by Robert Spano.

"I wrote [Tenebrae]," Golijov says, "as a consequence of witnessing two contrasting realities in a short period of time in September 2000. I was in Israel at the start of a new wave of violence...and a week later I took my son to the new planetarium in New York where we could see the Earth as a beautiful blue dot in space. I wanted to write a piece that could be listened to from different perspectives." The meditative work in two movements "is about pain," says Golijov, "but pain seen from inside and from a distance."

Oceana is available on iTunes and Amazon.com. Listen to excerpts and learn more about the album here.

iTunes asked Kronos' founder David Harrington what he's been listening to lately, so he put together a playlist! As you might expect from Kronos' wide-ranging repertoire, his eclectic selection goes from Swedish folk music to an Ethiopian saxophone master to Elvis (yes, that Elvis).

Read David's comments & listen here.

May 22, 2007

We're excited to announce our summer tour dates! Kronos will be performing all over Europe this summer, so take a look at our upcoming tour dates to see if Kronos will be appearing near you.

Kronos will perform three concerts in the U.K. in July as part of the WOMAD Festival and the New Crowed Hope Festival. On July 27th, Kronos performs at the 25th anniversary of WOMAD, a multi-day festival in Charlton Park with over 70 world-class artists, like Peter Gabriel and Mariza, from 40 different countries. On July 28th and 29th, Kronos will be performing at Peter Sellars' New Crowned Hope festival at the Barbican in London. The concerts will feature the UK premieres of both Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic & Henryk Górecki's String Quartet No. 3, as well as a performance of Alternative Radio: Another World Is Possible, featuring special guests David Barsamian, Tariq Ali, and Wu Man.

Kronos will also be performing at the Festival de Saint-Denis on July 2nd. The performance in the historic basilica of Saint Denis (the burial site of almost all of the French monarchs, dating back to Clovis I in the 5th century) features the world premiere of Encandilado, a new work by former Under 30 Project recipient Felipe Pérez Santiago, along with pieces by Terry Riley and John Adams.

Visit our upcoming tour dates for a complete list of summer tour dates.

May 16, 2007

On May 4th & 5th, DJ Spooky's Rebirth of a Nation appeared as a headlining event at the Tribeca Film Festival. An audio and visual re-imagining of D.W. Griffith's groundbreaking and polarizing 1915 classic The Birth of a Nation, the work combines DJ Spooky's skills as a club DJ, multimedia storyteller and social critic to transform the silent-era epic into a commentary on political corruption and racism. The Tribeca screenings marked the premiere of a new soundtrack recorded by Kronos.

Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman's documentary Nanking was also featured at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. A documentary chronicling the Rape of Nanking, the film uses interviews with survivors, letters, diaries, and other reports of the destruction to tell the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking during the early days of World War II. Kronos recorded Phil Marshall's score for the film. In addition to the Tribeca screening, Nanking premiered & received critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

On May 15th, Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain was released on DVD. Spanning over 1,000 years and told through three parallel stories, The Fountain is an odyssey about one man's struggle to save the woman he loves. The soundtrack, which received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score, features Clint Mansell's music performed by Kronos and Glaswegian band Mogwai.

A String Quartet in Her Throat, a short film and performance of Kronos & Tanya Tagaq's piece Nunavut, is nominated for 2 Leo Awards, which honors the best in British Columbian television and film production. The film is nominated for Best Arts Documentary and Best Musical Score in a Documentary.

May 10, 2007

On Saturday, May 5th, Peak Performances @ Montclair presented the world premiere of Trimpin & Kronos Quartet's 4 Cast: Unpredictable at Alexander Kasser Theater. This unique and visually stunning piece — which was commissioned by Peak Performances — is unlike anything Kronos has ever done before, and it featured the debut of the Jack Box sculpture, video by Willie Williams, and several other instruments designed by Trimpin.

Seattle-based Trimpin is a MacArthur "Genius" Award-winning sculptor, musician, and composer, most of whose pieces integrate both sculpture and music in some way, and many of which make use of computers to play these instruments.

Says David Harrington, "I have hoped that Kronos could work with Trimpin since I first met him in 1982. To walk into his studio, as I've been fortunate to do many times, is to be reinvigorated by the musical possibilities in all sorts of objects. In that magical place, you can see Trimpin's imagination everywhere you look. It is this sense of invention and discovery, and the thrill of listening and watching objects have new lives, that I want to share with our audience."

April 30, 2007

On April 28, four string quartets made their debut in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall as part of the Kronos Quartet Young Artists Concert. The performance was the culmination of six days of intensive coaching through Kronos: Signature Works, a Professional Training Workshop run by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. Kronos worked with the groups on a selection of music that has been brought into the string quartet repertoire through Kronos' three decades of commissioning new work. The workshop was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these quartets — all professional musicians in their 20s, selected through an international application process — to work closely with Kronos, who were able to share their firsthand experiences with this music. The four participating quartets were the Afiara String Quartet, the EnAccord String Quartet, the JACK Quartet, and the Pangea String Quartet.

March 9, 2007

Together with music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, we are proud to introduce the inaugural volume of the Kronos Collection, a performing edition with sheet music for three essential works in Kronos’ repertoire. Each volume of the Kronos Collection contains scores and performance parts, edited by Kronos, for three works written expressly for the group. Also included are insights from Kronos on performing this music. Volume 1 contains Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, Hamza El Din’s Escalay (Water Wheel), and Aleksandra Vrebalov’s Pannonia Boundless.

Throughout the years, musicians have repeatedly requested music, information about the composers with whom Kronos has worked, and details about playing techniques used to perform many of the pieces. None of the music in this collection has ever been made widely available in an edition designed for performance, and each piece holds a special place in Kronos’ repertoire.

Visit our web store to view Kronos Collection: Volume 1.

March 3, 2007

This week Kronos embarked on a month-long tour to Australia, China, and Korea. The legendary Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle will join Kronos in four performances of music from the Grammy-nominated album You’ve Stolen My Heart at the Sydney Opera House, WOMADelaide festival in Adelaide, and Hamer Hall in Melbourne. Other highlights include the world premiere of Dohee Lee’s Sinawi in Tongyeong, Korea, and performances of Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera and Terry Riley's Sun Rings in Korea and China. Kronos will also be taking part in several masterclasses and residency activities in Tongyeong, working with three young quartets from Korea, Japan, and China.

For a complete list of tour dates and programs, visit our concerts page.

January 21, 2007

On January 14th, Kronos, joined by former cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, were honored with the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award from Chamber Music America. This award is CMA's highest honor, and is presented annually to individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the chamber music field. Recipients of the award have included exceptional performers, teachers, coaches, arts administrators, presenters, and others who have enriched our national culture by fostering a greater appreciation for chamber music.

Learn more in Chamber Music Magazine’s cover story.

December 14, 2006

This morning the 2007 Golden Globe Award nominations were announced, and Clint Mansell received one for his score for The Fountain! Kronos & Mogwai performed on the soundtrack, and you can hear some of the music here. Congratulations, Clint!

The awards will be be held Monday, January 15, 2007 and telecast live on NBC at 8 PM EST. Click here to read the full list of nominees.

November 15, 2006

Good news, Requiem for a Dream fans: Composer Clint Mansell has once again teamed up with director Darren Aronofsky for the film The Fountain, opening in theaters on November 22nd! The new soundtrack, featuring Mansell's music performed by the Kronos Quartet and noise-rock band Mogwai, comes out November 21st on Nonesuch Records. We've posted two tracks from the soundtrack and the film's trailer on our MySpace page, so come listen and let us know what you think!

We're also busy touring - this week we're in Vienna performing in the New Crowned Hope Festival. The festival is curated by the visionary theatrical director Peter Sellars, who is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth by inviting contemporary artists in music, dance, art, and film to create new projects that are as revolutionary now as Mozart's were in his time.

We're playing six different concerts in five days, featuring works by Osvaldo Golijov, Terry Riley, Henryk Gorecki, and Franghiz Ali-Zadeh. Our performances include Alternative Radio with David Barsamian, which will feature special guests historian Howard Zinn, pipa virtuoso Wu Man, and Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

For more information and to buy tickets, please visit New Crowned Hope's website.

November 1, 2006

We're excited to announce that Kronos will be leading a Professional Training Workshop for string quartets at Carnegie Hall from April 22 - 29, 2007. During the weeklong workshop, which is a program of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, Kronos will coach four young quartets on works that have been written for the group by composers including Steve Reich, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Alexandra du Bois, and John Zorn, passing along the group's firsthand experiences of commissioning and performing new works. At the end of the workshop, the four quartets will perform a concert in Zankel Hall.

The application deadline is December 1st. Detailed guidelines and application materials are available at Carnegie Hall's website.

October 23, 2006

After a successful premiere at Carnegie Hall as part of Kronos: Live Mix, we're looking forward to another performance of Alternative Radio! On Wednesday, October 25th, Media Alliance presents Alternative Radio: Another World is Possible at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. David Barsamian's radio program, which addresses issues and viewpoints not covered in mainstream media, is transformed for stage in an evening of music and conversation with Tariq Ali, David Barsamian, and the Kronos Quartet. The evening's performance is a benefit for Media Alliance, an organization which promotes media excellence, ethics, diversity, and accountability in the interests of peace, justice, and social responsibility. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit Media Alliance's website.

October 16, 2006

Steve Reich turned 70 on October 3rd, and we're celebrating all month! On October 7th & 8th Kronos performed 5 different concerts in London over the span of 2 days as part of the Barbican's Phases - The Music of Steve Reich festival. This Saturday, October 21st we'll be taking part in New York's citywide Reich celebration at Carnegie Hall, which Alex Ross of The New Yorker called "most exciting thing on the entire New York season schedule." If you can't make it to Carnegie Hall, Kronos' recordings of Different Trains and Triple Quartet are featured on the newly released box set Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective, a 5-disc collection of Reich's works from 1985 to present.

Click here to listen to the Barbican's Steve Reich - 5 Decades podcast. David Harrington and Steve Reich discuss Different Trains in episode 3, beginning at the 10 minute mark.

October 6, 2006

The application deadline for the Kronos: Under 30 Project, a program through which musicians under 30 years of age are selected to create new music for Kronos, is coming up! Complete applications must be received by October 16, 2006.

Carnegie Hall and Pop Montreal are joining Kronos in commissioning one selected composer to write a new piece of music specifically for Kronos. The Lucas Artists Program at the Montalvo Arts Center will then host the musician during a multi-week residency in Northern California. The commissioned composer will join Kronos in San Francisco, California, to prepare the new piece, and will travel to Carnegie Hall and to Pop Montreal for Kronos' performances of the work.

Anyone under the age of 30 is welcome to apply! For details, visit our website.

Don't miss out on this chance for Kronos to hear your music!

September 15, 2006

On September 11th at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Kronos performed Awakening, a special program marking the fifth anniversary of the events of 9/11. The program featured the West Coast premiere of Michael Gordon's The Sad Park, written in response to the terrorist attacks and which incorporates taped voices of young schoolchildren near the site of the World Trade Center. The program also included music from 12 countries, including pieces from Afghanistan and Iraq. Says David Harrington, "Using this musical diversity as a tool, we want to open windows on an expansive interior place, a place where we can be surrounded by a wealth of musical perspectives. We hope to create equilibrium in the midst of imbalance: a special covering on an open wound. We also hope to find a location that one's inner ear can return to whenever the alarming movie from that horrific day replays itself."

"[The concert's] wake-up call demands wide dissemination," said LA Times critic Mark Swed, and we are currently planning future performances.

August 6, 2006

We've been enjoying the summer by playing some concerts outdoors, in Poland for Warsaw Summer Jazz Days and in Brooklyn for a performance of Philip Glass's score to the film Dracula. We have one more outdoor show this summer, in the San Francisco Bay Area this Sunday at Rancho Nicasio.

On July 19th, Kronos performed an open-air concert in Poland as part of Warsaw Summer Jazz Days. The city itself and the flower-covered lawn at Krolikarnia Park were beautiful! For an encore, we played Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady, which Kronos hasn't played live in years, along with our take on Hendrix's legendary version of the Star-Spangled Banner and Purple Haze.

As part of Celebrate Brooklyn, last week we joined Philip Glass for a performance of his score to the 1931 film Dracula (starring Bela Lugosi), which was shown simultaneously. Thousands of people turned out in Prospect Park for the performance, but an incredible thunderstorm ended the evening early. It was dramatic and eerie: lightning struck right as Dracula appeared onscreen for the first time. After the storm scene in the film, the real-life downpour began - so we had to finish the concert sooner than we had planned. We found some great fan photos and blog reviews, so take a look!

Coming up this Sunday afternoon at 4 PM, Kronos will be performing our last outdoor concert this summer at Rancho Nicasio in Nicasio, about an hour north of San Francisco. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, come up and see the show! We had a great time performing here last summer because it's such a fun and unique setting. Where else can you can lounge on a lawn and eat barbecue while listening to Kronos? The program will include pieces by Michael Gordon, Osvaldo Golijov, Walter Kitundu, and Matmos. Tickets and directions are available here.

June 15, 2006

Come see Kronos this summer! Our summer tour includes a free Brooklyn performance of Philip Glass's score to Dracula with film, and a performance at the Colorado Music Festival of Terry Riley's multimedia work Sun Rings. Kronos also will be performing in Italy, Poland, and California before the summer's out.

Kronos will join Philip Glass on July 27 for a performance of Glass's score to the 1931 classic film Dracula, performed live with the film. This free event is being presented outdoors at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn as part of the 2006 Celebrate Brooklyn! festival.

On July 11, EcoArts and the Colorado Music Festival are bringing Kronos to Boulder, Colorado, for a performance of Terry Riley's evening-length multimedia work Sun Rings, commissioned by NASA and featuring visuals from NASA's archive. EcoArts is a 10-day event where a diverse array of artists, scientists and thinkers gather to address environmental issues and challenges. Click here for ticket information.

May 11, 2006

Today Kronos embarks on a three-week international tour, which will span major cities including Paris, Vienna, Rome, Madrid, Moscow, and Porto. Highlights of the tour include the European premieres of Derek Charke's Cercle du Nord III at the Wiener Konzerthaus and of Michael Gordon's The Sad Park at the Epau Festival in Le Mans, France, as well as the French premiere of Stringsongs by Meredith Monk at Paris' Theatre de la Ville. Kronos will also perform the Russian premiere of Sun Rings, the 80-minute multimedia work by Terry Riley, with the Sirin Choir at Moscow's International House of Music on May 30. For a complete list of tour dates, visit our concerts page.

May 10, 2006

Kronos has recorded a new piece with Matmos, entitled Solo Buttons for Joe Meek. The track is featured on Matmos' new album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of the Beast, released May 9. The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of the Beast is a collection of "sound portraits" or musical biographies of people Matmos admires, ranging from King Ludwig II of Bavaria to Talented Mr. Ripley author Patricia Highsmith. Solo Buttons for Joe Meek paints a surf-rock-tinged picture of legendary UK record producer and recording studio pioneer Joe Meek, perhaps most widely known for the 1962 hit "Telstar" by The Tornados.

Kronos recently performed Joe Meek live with Matmos and guitarist Mark Lightcap as an encore at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco on April 21 and 22. To hear the track and read more about Matmos, visit Kronos on MySpace.com.

April 17, 2006

This Friday, April 21, and Saturday, April 22, Kronos will be joined by electronic music duo Matmos and instrument builder Walter Kitundu for the world premieres of two new collaborations at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The concerts are part of the Yerba Buena Center's Bay Area Now 4 series, which celebrates the work of artists based in the SF Bay Area who are breaking new ground in contemporary artistic expression.

Walter Kitundu builds multi-stringed instruments made from record players that rely on the turntable’s sensitivity to vibration. For this joint appearance with Kronos, he wrote Cerulean Sweet III, which honors jazz great Charles Mingus; the work features Kronos and Kitundu performing on "phonoharps," the instruments Kitundu created specifically for Kronos.

In the tradition of musique concrete, Matmos (Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt) makes music from recorded sounds—past projects have included amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the sounds of surgery, and light-sensitive theremins played by snails' antennae. They will perform alongside the Quartet in For Terry Riley, which includes manipulated samples from a rehearsal of Terry Riley's 1980 work for Kronos, Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, as well as the sounds of Kronos bowing toilet seats, a magazine rack, a deep fat fryer, and a hub cap.

To experience these rare joint appearances, visit www.ybca.org for ticket info.

March 22, 2006

This weekend marks the opening of Kronos: Live Mix, a six-concert festival presented by Carnegie Hall from Friday, March 24 to Sunday, March 26, and Thursday, April 6 to Saturday, April 8.

The multifaceted concerts of Live Mix include a collaboration with Azerbaijani composers Franghiz Ali-Zadeh and Rahman Asadollahi, and a tribute to the independent public affairs radio program Alternative Radio with broadcasting legend David Barsamian and noted historian Howard Zinn. The festival features new works, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Kronos, by Henryk Gorecki, Glenn Branca and James Thirlwell, as well as the world premiere of a quartet by Michael Gordon. The festival culminates on April 8 with a rare concert appearance with tabla master Zakir Hussain, pipa virtuoso Wu Man, and Asha Bhosle, the legendary Queen of Bollywood and Kronos’ partner on You’ve Stolen My Heart, Kronos' most recent Grammy-nominated album.

For full details, click here; for ticketing and schedule information, visit www.carnegiehall.org

March 13, 2006

Kronos will perform the world premiere of Alexandra Du Bois' Night Songs (Nachtliederen), String Quartet No. 3, at Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University on Wednesday, March 15, in a concert presented by Stanford Lively Arts.  Written for the Quartet, Night Songs is based on the writings of Etty Hillesum, a young Dutch woman who was killed at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Du Bois, currently a graduate student at The Juilliard School, was the first recipient of the Kronos: Under 30 Project, a commissioning program for young composers; Night Songs is her second quartet written for Kronos. To prepare for the work, Du Bois read Hillsum's unabridged works three times and traveled to Amsterdam, Westerbork and Auschwitz to immerse herself in the sights and sounds of her life. About her inspiration for the title, Du Bois writes: "Night can represent the darkness of that time, of humanity, but it also represents the unconscious. Etty Hillesum was always uplifting—she was almost always singing a song. She had an incredible sense of inner light."
 
Night Songs (Nachtliederen), String Quartet No. 3, was commissioned for the Kronos Quartet by Deborah and Creig Hoyt in memory of Dr. Wayne Caygill. The work will receive its New York premiere at Zankel Hall on March 24, the opening night of Kronos' Live Mix Festival at Carnegie Hall, and will performed in San Sebastian, Spain, and Paris, France, in May.
 
Also on the program at Stanford are works by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and Hildegard von Bingen, as well as the West Coast premiere of Gabriela Frank's Inkarrí (co-commissioned by Lively Arts). For tickets, please visit the Stanford Lively Arts website.

January 26, 2006

This week Kronos tours Canada with a new program: Nunavut. The concert culminates with a newly commissioned world premiere collaboration (also called Nunavut) of Kronos and Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq. Nunavut also features the work of Canadian composer Derek Charke; Kronos will perform selections from his Inuit Throat Song Games and Cercle du Nord III, a new work featuring field recordings from the Canadian North. Also on the program are works by Arvo Part, Peteris Vasks, Xploding Plastix, and Sigur Ros.

Nunavut receives its world premiere on Saturday, January 28 in Vancouver, presented by the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. The program was previewed in Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) on January 24, and will be performed in Calgary on January 29 as part of One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo Festival.

The world premiere of Nunavut will be broadcast February 23 on Espace Musique in Vancouver, and at a later date on CBC Radio Two in Vancouver. A performance of Nunavut will also be broadcast on CBC Television's Opening Night program on March 16. Opening Night is an award-winning weekly two-hour series that features arts programming from Canada and around the world. Check channels and show times here.

Nunavut by Tanya Tagaq and the Kronos Quartet was commissioned by the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC, CBC Television, the Canada Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Derek Charke's Cercle du Nord III and Inuit Throat Song Games were commissioned for the Kronos Quartet by CBC Radio Two and Radio-Canada's Espace Musique.

January 24, 2006

On January 14, The Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire presented the world premiere of Love Bleeds Radiant, a new work by Dan Visconti. Love Bleeds Radiant was commissioned for Kronos through the Kronos: Under 30 Project/#3, a commissioning and residency program for composers under 30 years of age. This year's Project is a collaboration of the Kronos Quartet, The Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Programs at Montalvo Arts Center, and the American Music Center.

According to the composer, Love Bleeds Radiant is informed by his experience both as an electric guitarist and a classically trained violinist. The piece, which utilizes distortion and other live electronics to emulate the sounds of an old 78-rpm recording, is meant to evoke the language and emotions of the blues.

About his piece, Visconti writes, "There's a fascinating disconnect between the tough swagger of many early blues lyrics and the underlying subtext of vulnerability, tenderness and grief. Often, a superficial statement of machismo can shelter a fragile interior flawed with sadness; likewise, sometimes a veneer of slick, stylized pathos conceals the devastation of a violent, brooding core. This pronounced schism lends interest and depth to an otherwise straightforward genre, and the way in which the slight crack of imperfection can grow to become a portal into private darkness continues to engage me each time one of those old records is spun. I've sought to develop this musical stance in Love Bleeds Radiant…."

To read more about Love Bleeds Radiant and Dan Visconti's residency at The Hopkins Center, check out his blog here.

December 8, 2005

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) announced the nominations for the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards this morning and we are excited to report that Kronos and Asha Bhosle's Nonesuch album You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood has received a nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album. The awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Also, on February 3, Kronos will be honored with NARAS' President's Merit Award at the annual Salute to Classical Music.  The award is in recognition of Kronos' "extraordinary artistic accomplishments and strong commitment to educational initiatives." This luncheon will be held in Los Angeles, and is one of the Academy's hallmark events during the GRAMMY week celebrations.

For a complete list of nominees, please visit www.grammy.com

November 1, 2005

BBC Radio 3 has announced the nominees for its 2006 Awards for World Music, and the Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle have been nominated in the "Culture-Crossing" category. The award winners will be unveiled on February 18, followed by the annual Poll Winners Concert, which takes place at the Brixton Academy in London on April 7. To read more information, please visit the BBC Radio 3 website.

October 20, 2005

Yesterday evening at the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn, Estonia, Kronos presented two world premieres: Peteris Vasks's String Quartet No. 5 and Moving Still: H.C. Andersen 200 by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen.

Kronos was joined by guest vocalist Paul Hillier for Moving Still: H.C. Andersen 200, written for Kronos and Hillier in commemoration of the bicentenary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen. The two-movement work by individualistic Danish composer Gudmundsen-Holmgreen features lyrics based on Andersen's texts. The nervous, pulsating first movement uses the short story "In a Thousand Years," in which we look through Andersen's 19th-century eyes at a futuristic, fantastic world where Americans will cross the Atlantic in "steam ships of the air" and "do Europe in a week." The second movement, "In Denmark I am Born," is based on a traditional Danish-sounding melody which gradually takes on outside influences.

Peteris Vasks's String Quartet No. 5 is the second work that the Latvian composer has written for Kronos. About this piece, Vasks wrote that he "wished to speak of how we are each a part of the world, and a world unto ourselves, of the existence and necessity of idealism, the love around us and in us." He dedicated this quartet to the musicians of Kronos, "my friends and like-minded colleagues. We believe music can change us for the better." To purchase Kronos' Grammy-nominated recording of Vasks's Fourth Quartet, released on Nonesuch Records, click here.

Gudmundsen-Holmgreen's Moving Still and Vasks's String Quartet No. 5 will also be performed in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 21, and Malmo, Sweden, on October 22.

October 14, 2005

On October 15, 2005, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki's long-awaited String Quartet No. 3, Piesni Spiewaja ("...songs are sung"), Op. 67, will receive its world premiere in a performance by the Kronos Quartet in Bielsko-Biala, Poland. The concert is highlighted as the final performance of the 10th Festival of Polish Composers, and takes place in the 3500-seat Church of Bielsko-Aleksandrowice.

Gorecki, who attained worldwide recognition with the bestselling 1992 recording of his Third Symphony, wrote Piesni Spiewaja for Kronos in 1994/95, but held onto the work for a decade before sending it to the group. His only comment on the matter was written in the score: "In the intervening years there were several dates set for the work's premiere by the Kronos Quartet, who also commissioned this quartet, but I continued to hold back from releasing it to the world. I don't know why."

All three of Gorecki's string quartets were written for and dedicated to the Kronos Quartet. His first two quartets, Already It Is Dusk (No. 1, Op. 62) and Quasi una Fantasia (No. 2, Op. 64), were recorded by Kronos and are available on Nonesuch Records.

Saturday's premiere will be paired with performances of two major choral works, Krzysztof Penderecki's Te Deum and Gorecki's Amen, conducted by Mr. Penderecki. Mr. Gorecki will also be in attendance. The next scheduled performance of Piesni Spiewaja is the U.S. premiere at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in New York on March 24, 2006.

For more information about Piesni Spiewaja, listen to Polskie Radio's English-language interview with Gorecki biographer Adrian Thomas here.

September 30, 2005

The Barbican in London will present India Calling: Songs from R. D. Burman's Bollywood with Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle on October 7. Paying homage to Rahul Dev Burman, Bhosle's late husband and one of India's most influential Bollywood composers, the celebratory performance highlights songs from Kronos and Asha Bhosle's new Nonesuch album, You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R. D. Burman's Bollywood. The concert also features special guest, Debopriyo Sarkar, on percussion.

India Calling: Songs from R. D. Burman's Bollywood received its world premiere on September 22 and 23 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The program was also performed at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles on September 24.

A final performance of India Calling will take place at New York's Carnegie Hall on April 8, 2006. Tickets are still available-visit www.carnegiehall.org for details.

August 3, 2005

The Kronos Quartet announces that cellist Jeffrey Zeigler has joined the group. Zeigler, who has been performing with Kronos as guest cellist this summer, has already appeared with the group in Chicago, Seattle, Aspen, Dobbiaco (Italy), Molde (Norway), and several other cities. He replaces Jennifer Culp, who performed with Kronos for six years. More...

May 9, 2005

Kronos is on tour in Europe this month. Highlights include concerts at the 28th annual Dresden Music Festival, including a performance of Julia Wolfe's My Beautiful Scream with the Dresden Symphony on May 16. The tour also features the world premiere of Walter Kitundu's Cerulean Sweet on May 19 at Theatre de la Ville in Paris. For a complete list of European dates, please visit our Concerts page.

April 28, 2005

On Sunday May 1, the Kronos Quartet and Wu Man (pipa) will perform the world premiere of The Cusp of Magic, a new composition by longtime Kronos collaborator, Terry Riley. The six-movement work was commissioned for Kronos in honor of Riley's 70th birthday celebrations. The concert is presented by Cal Performances at Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley campus; for additional performances of The Cusp of Magic, please visit our Concerts page.

About the work, Riley said, "The Cusp of Magic significantly fills the picture that my collaboration with Kronos has been portraying for nearly 25 years. My compositions for Kronos are the most important of my notated works, each one staking out a different mood and musical structure and setting up new challenges for both composer and performer. In this work, the different timbre and resonance of the Chinese pipa and the western string ensemble highlight the crossover regions of cultural reference, so that western musical themes might be projected with an eastern accent and vice-versa. My plan was to make these regions seamless so that the listener is carried between worlds without an awareness of how he/she ends up there."

March 24, 2005

The Kronos Quartet premieres a collaboration with Moroccan-born, Israeli-bred singer Emil Zrihan and his group on Saturday, April 2, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The performance, presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will feature new works and arrangements of Zrihan’s classic Arabic-inspired material by Osvaldo Golijov and Ljova.

Known internationally as "The Moroccan Nightingale," Zrihan evokes his Sephardic roots by combining the Jewish cantorial tradition with Arab-Andalusian song and elements of flamenco and Arab folk music. He is currently the cantor of the main synagogue in Ashkelon, Israel.

February 23, 2005

On February 19th, Kronos embarked on an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand, produced by Arts Projects Australia and presented by Musica Viva Australia, Chamber Music New Zealand, and the WOMAD Festival. Kronos will perform concerts featuring works written for the group by Peter Sculthorpe, Willem Jeths, Steve Reich, Alexandra du Bois, and others. In addition, the group will perform the evening-length multimedia production Visual Music at the Perth Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, and Melbourne's Hamer Hall. At the WOMADelaide and WOMAD New Zealand festivals, Kronos will also perform with special guest, Irish accordionist Tony MacMahon.

Two of the concerts will be broadcast live on radio: on February 23 by Concert FM Radio in New Zealand, and on February 28 by ABC Radio in Australia.

Visit our Concerts page for tour dates.

January 21, 2005

This month, Kronos releases a new CD on Nonesuch Records entitled Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh. The disc includes four works by the Azerbaijani composer, three of which - Oasis (1998), Apsheron Quintet (2001), and Mugam Sayagi (1993) - were commissioned by Kronos. Also on the recording is Ali-Zadeh's Music for Piano, which is performed by the composer.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan (formerly of the Soviet Union), Ali-Zadeh combines contemporary music of the west with the long-neglected Azerbaijani tradition of mugam. The album title Mugam Sayagi means "in the style of mugam."

Kronos Artistic Director and Violinist David Harrington says, "Franghiz's pieces unfold with a magical sense of timing. New scenes arrive mysteriously, each born at just the right moment. She gives us exquisite interior worlds of instrumental color and we dwell in places we've never been before."

January 21, 2005

Kronos Quartet announces the premiere of Stringsongs, a new work by composer, singer, director, and choreographer Meredith Monk. Stringsongs, which is Monk's first piece written for string quartet, was commissioned for Kronos by the Carnegie Hall Corporation; the Barbican, London; the National Endowment for the Arts; and Ms. Alta Tingle. The piece receives its world premiere on January 22 at the Barbican in London. Following is the North American premiere at the Brock University Centre for the Arts in St. Catharine's, Canada, on January 27, and the US premiere at Carnegie's Zankel Hall in New York on February 5. These performances take place as part of Meredith Monk's 40th Anniversary Season, a series of events celebrating Monk's four decades of work in the arts.