Kronos Quartet in 2006. Founding member David Harrington is in the yellow shirt.

Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers (1978–1999) had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola and Joan Jeanrenaud on cello. Jennifer Culp replaced Jeanrenaud on cello in 1999. Jeffrey Zeigler replaced Culp on cello in 2005. Image File history File links Kronos_Quartet_2006. ... Image File history File links Kronos_Quartet_2006. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart, the lowest being the G just below middle C. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... For details about the famous earthquake, refer to the article 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The viola (in French, alto; in German bratsche) is a stringed musical instrument played with a bow which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the higher violin (soprano register) and the lower lines played by the deeper cello (bass) and double... A cello The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello (the c is pronounced /tʃ/ as the ch in church), is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ...

New music

Kronos specializes in new music and has a long history of commissioning new works. In fact, over 600 works have been created for the Kronos Quartet. They have worked with many minimalist composers including Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Kevin Volans. This article is about a musical style. ... Arvo Pärt photographed by Tonu Tormis Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer, often identified with the school of minimalism. ... Steve Reich Steve Reich (born Stephen Michael Reich, October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ... Terry Riley – (Portrait by Betty Freeman) Terry Riley (born 24 June 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. ... Kevin Volans is a composer. ...

Kronos has collaborated with composers from a diversity of countries such as Franghiz Ali-Zadeh from Azerbaijan and Osvaldo Golijov from Argentina. Golijov is a MacArthur Fellow who has done compositions and arrangements for Kronos CDs such as Caravan and Nuevo. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking institution. ...

Recently, the Kronos Quartet began a commission process for composers under the age of 30, in the hope of bringing some of the talented young composers of our day to light.

Diverse genres

Kronos covers a very broad range of musical genres: Mexican folk, experimental, pre-classical early music, movie soundtracks (Requiem for a Dream, Heat), jazz and tango. Kronos has even recorded adaptations of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", Sigur Rós's "Flugufrelsarinn," Television's "Marquee Moon", and Raymond Scott's "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals". Musical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. ... Traditional mariachi music. ... Experimentalism can refer to the state of philosophy, or a particular music style. ... Early music is European classical music before the classical music era and after Ancient music. ... Requiem for a Dream is a novel written by Hubert Selby, Jr. ... Heat is a crime thriller/drama film released on December 15, 1995. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... Tango music is traditionally played by an orquesta típica, which often includes violin, piano, guitar, flute, and especially bandoneon. ... James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and cultural icon. ... For other meanings of Purple Haze, see Purple Haze (disambiguation). ... Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, classical and minimalist elements. ... Raymond Scott (September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994), was a composer, bandleader, and inventor. ...

Composers aside, Kronos has teamed up with artists from around the world, including the legendary Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle; the American soprano Dawn Upshaw; Mexican pop-rockers Cafe Tacuba; and the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks. Typical Bollywood movie poster—Devdas (2002) Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवुड) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. ... A playback singer is a singer whose song is pre-recorded for use in films. ... Asha Bhosle [1] (born September 8, 1933) is an Indian singer. ... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee), is an American soprano. ... Pop rock is a genre of music that combines elements of both pop and rock. ... Caf Tacuba (often spelled Caf Tacvba) is a musical group from Naucalpan, Mexico. ... The Roma people (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom), often referred to as Gypsies, are a heterogeneous ethnic group who live primarily in Southern and Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Latin America, southern states of North America and the Middle East. ... Taraful Haiducilor (a. ...

Kronos has performed live with the likes of the late poet Allen Ginsberg, the Modern Jazz Quartet, David Bowie, and Bjork, and has appeared on recordings with such diverse talents as singer-songwriters Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traore, Joan Armatrading, and Texas yodeler Don Walser. A poet is some one who writes poetry. ... Allen Ginsberg in later life Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American Beat poet born in Newark, New Jersey. ... The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson (vibraphone), John Lewis (piano, musical director), Percy Heath (bass), and Kenny Clarke (drums). ... David Bowie (born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947) is a British rock singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, mixer, and actor. ... Björk Guðmundsdóttir (born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is a singer/songwriter with a great expressive range and an interest in many kinds of music including popular, hip-hop, alternative-rock, torch songs, folk, and classical. ... Dave Matthews, 2003 David John Matthews, popularly known as Dave Matthews, (born January 9, 1967 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is the lead vocalist and guitarist from Dave Matthews Band. ... Nelly Kim Furtado (pron. ... Rokia Traoré (born January 24, 1974-) is an award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. ... Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading (born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts on December 9, 1950) and brought up in Birmingham, England is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ... Yodeling (or yodelling) is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from from the vocal chest register (or chest voice) to the head register (or head voice), making a high-low-high-low sound. ... Don Walser, a unique, award-winning yodeling Texas country music legend[1], was born Donald Ray Walser on September 14, 1934 in Brownfield. ...

Awards & recognition

• National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy President's Merit Award 2005
• Rolf Schock Prize in Music/Royal Swedish Academy of Music for Musical Arts (1999)
• Musical America (2003) Musicians of the Year
• Le Diapason d'Or de Mai 1997 for the Kronos Quartet recording of Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (France) (1997)
• Grammy Awards & Grammy Nominations
  • Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance]]: The Kronos Quartet & Dawn Upshaw for Berg: Lyric Suite (2004)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album for Kronos Quartet with Asha Bhosle, You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood (USA) (2005)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance for Peteris Vasks’ String Quartet No. 4 (USA) (2003)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album for The Tiger Lillies with Kronos Quartet, The Gorey End (USA) (2003)
  • Latin Grammy Award Nomination for Best Classical Album for Nuevo (USA) (2003)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album for Nuevo (USA) (2002)
  • Grammy Award Nominations for Best Classical Album & for Best Chamber Music Performance for Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets (USA) (1998)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance for Early Music (Lachrymae Antiquae) (USA) (1997)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance for Black Angels (USA) (1991)
  • Grammy Award Nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance for White Man Sleeps (USA) (1987)

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is known variously as NARAS or The Recording Academy. ... The Schock Prizes were instituted by the will of philosopher and artist Rolf Schock (1933-1986). ... Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music... Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee), is an American soprano. ... Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9, 1885 – December 24, 1935) was an Austrian composer. ... The 46th Grammy Awards were held on the February 8, 2004. ... Pēteris Vasks (born April 16, 1946) is a Latvian composer. ... Alfred Garyevich Schnittke (Russian: Альфре́д Га́ррьевич Шни́тке, November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian-German Jewish composer. ...

Quotation

"I've always wanted the string quartet to be vital, and energetic, and alive, and cool, and not afraid to kick ass and be absolutely beautiful and ugly if it has to be. But it has to be expressive of life. To tell the whole story with grace and humor and depth. And to tell the whole story, if possible."

– David Harrington

Recordings

• Kronos Quartet Plays Music of Thelonious Monk (1985)
• Mishima: Soundtrack composed by Philip Glass (1985)
• Kronos Quartet (1986), with music of Peter Sculthorpe, Aulis Sallinen, Philip Glass, Conlon Nancarrow and an arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze.
• Music of Bill Evans (1986)
• White Man Sleeps (1987)
• Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain (1988)
• Kronos Quartet Plays Terry Riley: Salome Dances for Peace (1989)
• Steve Reich: Different Trains (1989)
• Black Angels (including George Crumb's Black Angels) (1990)
• Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet (1991)
• Kevin Volans: Hunting:Gathering (1991)
• Five Tango Sensations (with Astor Piazzolla) (1991)
• Henryk Górecki: Already It Is Dusk (1991)
• Pieces of Africa (1992) (music by seven African composers)
• Short Stories (1993)
• Henryk Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 (1993)
• Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet (1993) (with pianist Aki Takahashi)
• At the Grave of Richard Wagner (1993)
• Bob Ostertag: All the Rage (1993)
• Night Prayers (1994)
• Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass (1995)
• Released: 1985-1995 (1995)
• Heat (Soundtrack) (1995)
• Howl, USA (Allen Ginsberg's poem set to music, as well as other Cold War pieces) (1996)
• Osvaldo Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (1997)
• Tan Dun: Ghost Opera (1997)
• Early Music (1997)
• Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets (1998)
• John Adams: John's Book of Alleged Dances (1998)
• Kronos Quartet: 25 Years (10 disks)
• Dracula (Soundtrack by Philip Glass) (1999)
• Requiem for a Dream (Soundtrack by Clint Mansell) (2000)
• Caravan (2000) (with guest artists: Zakir Hussain, Taraf de Haidouks, Kayhan Kalhor, Ziya Tabbassian, Ali Jihad Racy, Souhail Kaspar, Martyn Jones)
• Steve Reich: Triple Quartet (2001)
• Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam (2001)
• Nuevo (music of Mexican composers) (2002)
• Alban Berg: Lyric Suite (2003) (Grammy Award Winner)
• Harry Partch: U.S. Highball (2003)
• Peteris Vasks: String Quartet No. 4 (2003)
• Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh (2005)
• You've Stolen My Heart by Kronos Quartet, Asha Bhosle (Released August 2005), a tribute to Rahul Dev Burman.

Thelonious Monk, as featured on the cover of his 1956 album, Brilliant Corners (1958 reissue cover shown) Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ... Peter Sculthorpe (born April 29, 1929) is a noted Australian composer from Launceston, Tasmania. ... Aulis Sallinen (1935–) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ... Conlon Nancarrow (October 27, 1912 - August 10, 1997) was an American composer who took Mexican citizenship in 1955. ... James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and cultural icon. ... Bill Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the 20th century, and along with McCoy Tyner and Oscar Peterson was the force behind the biggest shift in the jazz paradigm since Art Tatum and Bud Powell. ... Terry Riley – (Portrait by Betty Freeman) Terry Riley (born 24 June 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. ... Terry Riley – (Portrait by Betty Freeman) Terry Riley (born 24 June 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. ... Steve Reich Steve Reich (born Stephen Michael Reich, October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... George Crumb (born October 24, 1929) is an American composer of modern and avant garde music. ... Witold LutosÅ‚awski at his home. ... Kevin Volans is a composer. ... Photograph of Piazzolla playing his bandoneon. ... Henryk MikoÅ‚aj Górecki (born December 6, 1933) is a Polish composer of classical music. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Henryk MikoÅ‚aj Górecki (born December 6, 1933) is a Polish composer of classical music. ... Morton Feldman (born January 12, 1926, died September 3, 1987) was an American composer. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ... Allen Ginsberg in later life Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American Beat poet born in Newark, New Jersey. ... The Cold War (Russian: Холодная война , Kholodna-ya voina) was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ... Tan Dun (譚盾 born August 18, 1957) is best known as the Grammy and Oscar award winning composer for the soundtracks of the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. ... Alfred Garyevich Schnittke (Russian: Альфре́д Га́ррьевич Шни́тке, November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian-German Jewish composer. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ... Clint Mansell (born November 7, 1963 in Coventry, England) is a musician and composer. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Taraful Haiducilor (a. ... Kalhor Playing Kamancheh Kayhan Kalohor (كيهان كلهر) is an Iranian kamancheh player of Kurdish origin. ... Martyn David Jones (born 1 March 1947) is a politician in Wales. ... Steve Reich Steve Reich (born Stephen Michael Reich, October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Terry Riley – (Portrait by Betty Freeman) Terry Riley (born 24 June 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. ... Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9, 1885 – December 24, 1935) was an Austrian composer. ... Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer. ... Pēteris Vasks (born April 16, 1946) is a Latvian composer. ... Asha Bhosle [1] (born September 8, 1933) is an Indian singer. ... Rahul Dev Burman, also known as Pancham or Pancham da (June 27, 1939 - January 4, 1994) was a music composer for Bollywood films. ...

External links

• Official website