Revered Kronos Quartet hits 50th anniversary with big changes afoot
Fifty years is a long time in the life of any music group. But listening to David Harrington talk about the Kronos Quartet, it’s easy to get the sense that the groundbreaking new music foursome is just getting started.
Harrington’s talking about the ninth annual Kronos Festival, running June 20-23 at SFJAZZ Center; the event celebrates five decades of innovation, featuring four programs of new works, special guests, and selections from the Kronos playbook dating back decades. It also serves as a farewell to violinist John Sherba and violist Hank Dutt, Kronos members for 45 years who in May announced their impending retirement, and will make the festival their final appearances as part of the quartet.
The event features a who’s who of new music stars, including guest artists Wu Man, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Mahsa Vahdat, Tanya Tagaq, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and others. Six world premieres, as well as works significant to the Kronos legacy, talks, film and more are on the schedule.
After 50 years, one might think that Harrington is winding down, but in a recent conversation, he said the truth is just the opposite. “I’m feeling super-charged and actually really good,” he said. “The festival is going to be one of the best for me, one of the most expansive events we’ve ever done. It’s going to point to all kinds of directions for our future, and celebrate, as much as we can, some of the ways we’ve gotten to this 50th year.”
Harrington said he’s been reflecting on the group’s years with Sherba and Dutt. He and Kronos cellist Paul Wiancko have already welcomed the quartet’s new members, violinist Gabriela Diaz and violist Ayane Kosaza. In addition to Sherba and Dutt, Janet Cowperthwaite, the longtime managing director of Kronos and executive director of Kronos Performing Arts Association, announced earlier this month that she will step down in October.
“I’ve played virtually every day for 46 years with Hank and 45 years with John,” Harrington said. “We’ve been through many, many moments in life together and have shared so much. So it’s not a matter of replacing: there’s no way to replace that — that involvement, their commitment to Kronos, and everything that we’ve done together.
“So I’m thinking of it as the group just forming a new branch. It’s going to feel new, and there’s all kinds of areas of our society, issues that we want to bring into our music, and people that we’d like to work with.”
The festival opens Thursday with the world premiere of “Beyond the Golden Gate,” with journalist Brooke Gladstone and community activist David Lei discussing the contributions of Chinese Americans in America, with live music featuring Kronos and pipa virtuoso Wu Man. A world premiere by Zachary James Watkins pays tribute to jazz pioneer Sun Ra, and new works by Sahba Aminikia and Aleksandra Vrebalov are also on the schedule.
Friday brings the world premiere of “Active Radio,” performed by Kronos with a moderated conversation featuring activist Dale Minami. The program also includes a world premiere by Jonathan Berger, and appearances by Nathalie Khankan and Tanya Tagaq.
Saturday features Kronos-commissioned works by Terry Riley, Trey Spruance, Mahsa Vahdat, a world premiere by Mary Kouyoumdjian; and a special guest performance by the San Francisco Girls Chorus led by Valérie Sainte-Agathe. The Sunday afternoon finale bids farewell to Sherba and Dutt with “A Thousand Thoughts,” a “live documentary” with the Kronos Quartet and live narration by filmmaker Sam Green.
Harrington, meanwhile, has a new job: he was recently appointed to a post with the Library of Congress, which has acquired a collection of Kronos manuscripts, instruments, costumes, video and audio recordings, and more from the Kronos Quartet and its non-profit organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association. Those items will be preserved in perpetuity, where musicians and scholars can access them. The Library also appointed Harrington as Kluge Chair in Modern Culture, and inducted the group’s 1992 album, “Pieces of Africa,” into the National Recording Registry.
Asked about the new post, Harrington said he’s feeling honored and excited about the work. But he said his principal focus will always remain with Kronos.
“I’ve realized that the string quartet — the sound of two violins, viola and cello — is my real instrument,” he said. “I kind of deal with the violin in order to have my real instrument. When I think about things, it’s always through that instrument, the instrument of the string quartet.
“There’s no way for me to leave that. I don’t want to leave it. It’s too wonderful, there are too many possibilities, and an immense world of things that haven’t been done yet, and I want to see them get done. So I need all the energy I can get, and I need all the time I can get. One never knows about those things, but that’s where I’m headed.”
Contact Georgia Rowe at growe@pacbell.net.
KRONOS QUARTET
Presents Kronos Festival: Celebrating Five Decades
When: June 20-23
Where: SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco
Tickets: $25-$75; www.sfjazz.org
More information: kronosquartet.org