Kronos quartet

Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 7:00pm
The Concert Hall at Groton Hill

Program:


JLIN | Little Black Book

HARKINS, ELISA | Eagle Song

VREBALOV, ALEKSANDRA | My Desert, My Rose

OSWALD, JOHN | Spectre

CUONG, VIET | Next Week’s Trees

REICH, STEVE | Triple Quartet

– INTERMISSION –

TRAD./RIM BANNA | Ya Taali’een el-Jabal (“Oh, You Who Are Climbing Up the Mountain”
(arr. Berger, Jonathan)

WESTON, TREVOR | Juba

ANDERSON, LAURIE | Flow

REICH, STEVE | Different Trains

 

Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet — David Harrington (violin), Gabriela Díaz (violin), Ayane Kozasa (viola), and Paul Wiancko (cello) — has reimagined the string quartet since 1973. Renowned for adventurous programming and fearless collaborations, Kronos presents emotionally powerful programs that engage with war, climate, social justice, and spirituality, bringing both immediacy and depth to concert audiences. 

Kronos’ genre-defying repertoire spans contemporary composers (Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Steve Reich), global voices (Wu Man, Zakir Hussain, Alim Qasimov), jazz and rock artists (Charles Mingus, Jimi Hendrix, The National), and collaborations with Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, and many others. Their recordings have earned three Grammy Awards and widespread acclaim; Pieces of Africa (1992) was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2024. In 2024 the Library of Congress acquired the Kronos archive, a testament to five decades of cultural impact. 

The quartet has performed thousands of concerts on six continents, released more than 70 recordings, and commissioned over 1,100 works. They tour extensively — performing in major halls and festivals worldwide — and pair performances with educational residencies, workshops, and community programs.

Most recently, the Quartet completed Fifty for the Future, a free online library of 50 new works from leading living composers that serves as a vivid expression of Kronos’ belief in open access and the continual reinvention of the string quartet repertoire. The quartet has also performed on the soundtrack for Users (2021) and has been both seen and heard in the documentary Zappa (2020). Kronos’ music has been featured in two Academy Award–nominated documentaries: Dirty Wars (2013) — for which Kronos’ David Harrington served as Music Supervisor — and How to Survive a Plague (2012). Kronos has also recorded complete film scores by Jacob Garchik for Guy Maddin’s The Green Fog (2017); Clint Mansell for Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain (2006) and Requiem for a Dream (2000); and Philip Glass for Dracula (1999) — a restored edition of the 1931 Bela Lugosi classic.