For nearly 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet—David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Paul Wiancko (cello)—has reimagined what the string quartet experience can be. One of the most celebrated and influential groups of our era, Kronos has given thousands of concerts worldwide, released more than 70 recordings, and collaborated with many of the world’s most accomplished composers and performers across many genres. Kronos has received more than 40 awards, including three Grammys and the Polar Music, Avery Fisher, and Edison Klassiek Oeuvre Prizes.
Through its non-profit organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), Kronos has commissioned more than 1,000 works and arrangements for quartet. KPAA also manages Kronos’ concert tours, local performances, recordings, and education programs, and produces an annual Kronos Festival in San Francisco. In its most ambitious commissioning effort to date, KPAA has recently completed 50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire. Through this initiative, Kronos has commissioned—and distributed online for free—50 new works for string quartet designed for students and emerging professionals, written by composers from around the world.
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PRESS
„Now after 45 years, the Kronos life journey [has become] a relentless endeavor to open up the world’s music for everyone.“
Metro Silicon Valley
„As Ben Jonson said of Shakespeare, [Kronos Quartet is] not of an age but for all time.“
Santa Cruz Sentinel
„The most far-ranging ensemble geographically, nationally and stylistically the world has known.“
Los Angeles Times
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21 MAY 2022 Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele
50 for the future
For its 50 for the Future project, the Kronos Quartet asked 50 international composers to write new works. The compositions created and still being created follow a participatory approach in that the scores are accessible free of charge and are supplemented by audio samples and interviews. In Ludwigsburg, the programme included works by Angélique Kidjo, inti figgis-vizueta, Terry Riley and Philip Glass, among others.
„’Die sollten zum Jubiläum wiederkommen’,
meinte ein Besucher beim Weggehen.“
Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, 24. Mai 2022
