Kronos Quartet

The quartet was founded by violinist David Harrington in Seattle, Washington. Its first performance was in November 1973. In March 2024, Kronos Quartet announced that Sherba and Dutt would retire in June of that year. They were replaced by violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kosaza. With over 75 studio albums to its credit and having performed worldwide, the Kronos Quartet has been called "probably the most famous 'new music' group in the world" (also spelled "Qo'noS"). ==Members==

==New music, contemporary classical==

, after performing LANDFALL at the Harris Theater on March 17, 2015 Over 1,000 pieces have been created for the Kronos Quartet, which has a long history of commissioning new works. It has worked with many minimalist composers, including John Adams, Arvo Pärt, George Crumb, Henryk Górecki, Steve Reich, John Luther Adams, Roberto Paci Dalò, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Peter Sculthorpe and Kevin Volans; collaborators hail from a diversity of countries—Kaija Saariaho from Finland, Pēteris Vasks from Latvia, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh from Azerbaijan, Homayun Sakhi from Afghanistan, Hamza El Din from Egypt, Victoria Vita Polevá from Ukraine and Fernando Otero, Astor Piazzolla, and Osvaldo Golijov from Argentina. Some of Kronos's string-quartet arrangements were published in 2007. ==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, The Fountain), jazz and tango. Kronos has also recorded adaptations of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", Sigur Rós's "Flugufrelsarinn", Television's "Marquee Moon", Raymond Scott's "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals", and Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". The quartet has also worked with a variety of global musicians, including Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle; Mexican-American painter Gronk; American soprano Dawn Upshaw; jazz composer/performer Pat Metheny; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; Azerbaijani mugam singer Alim Qasimov; and the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks among others. Kronos has performed live with the poet Allen Ginsberg, Astor Piazzolla, The National, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Björk, and has recorded with Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading, Brazilian electronica artist Amon Tobin, Texas yodeler Don Walser, Faith No More, Tiger Lillies and David Grisman. In 1984, Frank Zappa wrote "None of the Above" for Kronos, of which it performs the first movement in the 2020 documentary Zappa, directed by Alex Winter. Kronos's artistic director, founder, and violinist David Harrington is also interviewed in the film. On the 1998 Dave Matthews Band album Before These Crowded Streets, Kronos Quartet performed on the tracks "Halloween" and "The Stone". It also recorded for the 2007 Nine Inch Nails remix album, Year Zero Remixed doing a rendition of the track "Another Version of the Truth"". The group performed Lee Brooks's score for the short film 2081, based on the Kurt Vonnegut short story "Harrison Bergeron". In 2009, Kronos contributed an acoustic version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night" for the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 2017, the quartet performed as featured artists on the songs "Lost Light" and "Journey" on the soundtrack to the videogame Destiny 2. ==Awards and recognition==

'''Le Diapason d'Or de Mai''' • 1997 Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind ;Rolf Schock Prize • 1999 Royal Swedish Academy of Music for Musical Arts in Music Musical America • 2003 Musicians of the Year Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance • 2004 Alban Berg: Lyric Suite Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance • 2018 Laurie Anderson: Landfall Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical • 2020 Terry Riley: Sun Rings National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences • 2005 The Recording Academy President's Merit Award Polar Music Prize • 2011. The announcement of the award said: "For almost 40 years, the Kronos Quartet has been revolutionizing the potential of the string quartet genre when it comes to both style and content." WOMEX Awards • 2018 WOMEX Artist Award – Since the introduction of the WOMEX Award in 1999, the list of extraordinary artists and professionals deserving of this special praise has continued to grow. The award honours exceptional achievements in world music on the international level; musical excellence, social importance, commercial success, political impact, lifetime achievement Edison Classical Music Awards (Edison Klassiek) • 2019 Oeuvreprijs ==Recordings==

• • Kronos Collection, Vol. 2. Boosey and Hawkes. 2013. ==Films==

• 1985 – Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. – Written by Philip Glass featuring Kronos Quartet and Michael Riesman • 1995 – Heat. – Written by Elliot Goldenthal featuring Kronos Quartet • 1995 – Musical Outsiders: An American Legacy – Harry Partch, Lou Harrison, and Terry Riley. Directed by Michael Blackwood. • 1998 – Dracula (1931) – alternate score by Philip Glass • 2000 – Requiem for a Dream Soundtrack by Clint Mansell featuring Kronos Quartet. • 2000 – The Man Who Cried. Directed by Sally Potter. • 2006 – The Fountain Soundtrack by Clint Mansell featuring Kronos Quartet and Mogwai. • 2009 – 2081. Directed by Chandler Tuttle. • 2013 – Dirty Wars. Directed by Rick Rowley. • 2014 – The Great Beauty. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino. ==References==