University of Florida Performing Arts

With special guests the P.K. Yonge Middle School Performing Arts Chorus,
Conducted by Melanie Harris

There will be a pre-performance discussion with Ken Martinson at 6:45 p.m.

To read the program, click here.

To listen to an interview with founder and violinist David Harrington, cellist Jeff Zeigler and composer Michael Gordon, click here.

Click “play” to listen to an audio sample of Aulis Sallinen’s Winter Was Hard:

About Awakening

During and immediately following World War II, the public turned to popular entertainment and radio programs for comfort.  Compositions such as Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Rodeo “helped the nation find a serviceable blend of sorrow, comfort and inspiration about the country’s involvement in what appeared to be the war to end all wars,” according to Marc Fisher.  But in the aftermath of 9/11, and amidst the continuing war in Iraq, there has been no such art.  Until now.

The Kronos Quartet has assembled a 90-minute program that not only memorializes the events of 9/11, but also offers audience members a chance to reflect on the tragedy in a way that offers both healing and hope. 

“Most of us carry within ourselves an alarming movie replaying the events of September 11, 2001,” says Kronos member David Harrington.  “For our concert marking the anniversary of September 11, Kronos offers a new soundtrack to this internal movie.  We move from various public musical places to those that are particular, and mostly private.  We have assembled this concert using a wide range of sonic building blocks from 12 countries.  Using this musical diversity as a tool, we want to open windows on an expansive interior place, a place where we can be surrounded by a wealth of musical perspectives.  We hope to create equilibrium in the midst of imbalance: a special covering on an open wound.  We also hope to find a location that one’s inner ear can return to whenever the alarming movie from that horrific day repeats itself.”

Program

Awakening
A Musical Meditation on the Anniversary of 9/11

Adhans – Traditional (Turkey, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia)
Awakening – Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky (Uzbekistan)
Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me – Unknown (Iraq)
Lullaby – Traditional (Iran)
Raga Mishra Bhairavi – Ram Narayan (India)
Armenia – Einstürzende Neubauten (Germany)
Spectre – John Oswald (Canada)
The Sad Park – Michael Gordon (United States)
Darkness 9/11 from the film 11’09”01 – Osvaldo Golijov & Gustavo Santaolalla (Argentina)
One Earth, One People, One Love from Sun Rings – Terry Riley (United States)
Tusen Tankar (A Thousand Thoughts) – Traditional (Sweden)
Winter Was Hard – Aulis Sallinen (Finland)
The Beatitudes – Vladmir Martynov (Russia)

About the Kronos Quartet

For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet—David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello)—has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning hundreds of works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos’ work has also garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and “Musicians of the Year” (2003) from Musical America.

Kronos’ adventurous approach dates back to the ensemble’s origins. In 1973, David Harrington was inspired to form Kronos after hearing George Crumb’s Black Angels, a highly unorthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, and electronic effects. Kronos then began building a compellingly diverse repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording works by 20th century masters (Bartók, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary composers (Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke), jazz legends (Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk), and artists from even farther afield (rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Indian vocal master Pandit Pran Nath, avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn).

Integral to Kronos’ work is a series of long-running, in-depth collaborations with many of the world’s foremost composers. One of the quartet’s most frequent composer-collaborators is “Father of Minimalism” Terry Riley, whose work with Kronos includes the early Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector; Cadenza on the Night Plain and Salome Dances for Peace; 2002’s Sun Rings, a multimedia, NASA-commissioned ode to the earth and its people, featuring celestial sounds and images from space; and, most recently, The Cusp of Magic, commissioned in honor of Riley’s 70th birthday celebrations and premiered by Kronos and Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man in 2005. Kronos commissioned and recorded the three string quartets of Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, with whom the group has been working for nearly 20 years.  The quartet has also collaborated extensively with composers such as Philip Glass, recording his complete string quartets and scores to films like Mishima and Dracula (a restored edition of the Bela Lugosi classic); Azerbaijan’s Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, whose works are featured on the full-length 2005 release Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh; Steve Reich, whose Kronos-recorded Different Trains earned a Grammy; Argentina’s Osvaldo Golijov, whose work with Kronos includes both compositions and extensive arrangements for albums like Kronos Caravan and Nuevo; and many more.

In addition to composers, Kronos counts numerous artists from around the world among its collaborators, including the legendary Bollywood “playback singer” Asha Bhosle, featured on Kronos’ Grammy-nominated CD, You’ve Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman’s Bollywood ; the renowned American soprano Dawn Upshaw; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks; and the unbridled British cabaret trio, the Tiger Lillies. Kronos has performed live with the likes of icons Allen Ginsberg, Zakir Hussain, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, Betty Carter, and David Bowie, and has appeared on recordings by such diverse talents as Amon Tobin, Dan Zanes, DJ Spooky, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading and Don Walser.

Kronos’ music has also featured prominently in other media, including film (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, 21 Grams, Heat, True Stories) and dance, with noted choreographers such as Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and the duo Eiko & Koma setting pieces to Kronos’ music.

The quartet spends five months of each year on tour, appearing in concert halls, clubs, and festivals around the world including BAM Next Wave Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Barbican in London, WOMAD, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Shanghai Concert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Kronos is equally prolific and wide-ranging on disc. The ensemble’s expansive discography on Nonesuch Records includes collections like Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers, which simultaneously topped Billboard’s Classical and World Music lists; 2000’s Kronos Caravan, whose musical “travels” span North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East; 1998’s 10-disc anthology, Kronos Quartet: 25 Years; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- and Latin Grammy–nominated celebration of Mexican culture; and the 2003 Grammy-winner, Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite.

Kronos’ recording and performances reveal only a fraction of the group’s commitment to new music.  As a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, the Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association has commissioned more than 500 new works and arrangements for string quartet.  Music publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Kronos have recently released sheet music for three signature works, all commissioned for Kronos, in the first volume of the Kronos Collection, a performing edition edited by Kronos. The quartet is committed to mentoring emerging professional performers, and in 2007 Kronos led its first Professional Training Workshop with four string quartets as part of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.  One of Kronos’ most exciting initiatives is the Kronos: Under 30 Project, a unique commissioning and composer-in-residence program for composers under 30 years old, launched in conjunction with Kronos’ own 30th birthday in 2003. By cultivating creative relationships with such emerging talents and a wealth of other artists from around the world, Kronos reaps the benefit of 30 years’ wisdom while maintaining a fresh approach to music-making inspired by a new generation of composers and performers.