■MUSIC
Freewheeling
Kronos Quartet
A performance by the Kronos
Quartet opens the Hult Center’s
Blockbuster Series in Silva Concert
Hall at the Hult Center on Friday, Jan.
9 at 8 pm. Devoted exclusively to the
music of the twentieth century,
Kronos is changing the way people
think about string quartets. The pro
gram includes the works of Phillip
Glass, Thelonius Monk, Terry Riley,
Bill Evans, Ben Johnston, Kevin
Volans and Bela Bartok.
They are attracting eager, hip young
audiences who are primed to expect
something exciting and fresh in their
musical fare. David Harrington, first
violinist of the quartet, states, “I think
the people who come to our concerts
have grown to expect the closest thing
to a peak musical experience that we
can offer them.” John Rockwell of
The New York Times stated, “if
classical music is to be preserved and
extended as a living thing, this is the
way it must be done.”
Kronos has ignored nearly every bit
of conventional wisdom there is about
how to build a career in classical
music. Their programs include pop
art classics like Jimi Hendrix’ Purple
Haze and Thelonius Monk’s ’Round
Midnight as well as the more standard
fare of Shostakovich and Bartok.
With a free-wheeling style that has
made many friends for modern mu
sical art, the Kronos embodies every
thing that one might expect of an
ensemble devoted to reflecting the
music, culture and philosophies of our
times. Looking radically different
from traditional string quartets, they
sport new wave clothes, modish out
fits and punk hair styles.
The Kronos Quartet was first or
ganized in Seattle in 1973 by first vio
linist and artistic director David Har
rington. Kronos arrived at its current
San Francisco-based configuration in
1977 and is made up of Harrington,
second violinist John Sherba, violist
Hank Dutt, and cellist Joan Jean
renaud.
The quartet performs a busy con
cert schedule of 110 engagements per
year. It presents a concert series in
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle,
combines
classical
& pop
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Described as hip, punk, new-wave and freewheeling, The Kronos Quartet is all of these and more.
Playing only Twentieth Century music, they cover material by classical and pop composers alike—
Philip Glass, Jimi Hendrix, John Cage, Frank Zappa, Bela Bartok, Terry Riley, Thelonius Monk
and many others.
York as
well as
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Kronos' musical accomplishments
are nothing short of Olympian. The
quartet has premiered more than 200
new works of composers whose
names read like a list of who’s who
in contemporary music. Composers
like John Cage, Frank Zappa, Steve
Reich, Phillip Glass, Pierre Boulez,
Jimi Hendrix, Terry Riley, and Bill
Evans have created the music that
makes up the meat and potatoes of
Kronos programs. Not to deny their
zany and somewhat offbeat sense of
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Steve Riffkin’s medley of famous
television themes as well.
The dedication that Kronos shows
to contemporary music is said to
define an image and meet a need that
has not been met elsewhere. In an age
when composers rarely have heard
their works performed more than
once or twice in their lifetime, the
dedication of this group of musical
pioneers is nothing short of awe-in
spiring. Harrington sums it all up with
his assertion that, “With us the com
poser is never far away—he’s a fifth
member.” Not only has Kronos fre
quently performed new music, but it
has recorded it as well, and very
successfully.
The Kronos is no stranger to top
sales of award-winning recordings.
Kronos’ Nonesuch Recording, The
Kronos Quartet, is currently listed on
the Top Ten Classical Chart in Bill
board magazine. Time magazine listed
their recording of Terry Riley’s Ca
den^a on the Night Plain in their
“Best of ’85” feature. Kronos’ disc
of Philip Glass’s Mishima was picked
by Stereo Review for their Record of
the Year honor for 1986.
Tickets for the event are $10, re
served seating, and are now on sale
at the Hult Center ticket office and all
Hult Center outlets or by calling
687-5000.
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