Kronos Quartet with special guests Aizuri Quartet, Friction Quartet, and Soo Yeon Lyuh
The rich cultural diversity of the Kronos Fifty for the Future repertoire is on full display on opening night, with works by composers representing Benin, Colombia, India, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States.
Kronos Quartet kicks off the evening with Beninese singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo’s YanYanKliYan Senamido #2and Guillermo Galindo's interactive Remote Control. Korean-born composer and haegeum virtuoso Soo Yeon Lyuh joins Kronos for her own work Yessori.
San Francisco’s adventurous Friction Quartet takes the stage to perform Mario Galeano Toro's Tolo Midi, a piece influenced by the rhythmic and melodic universe of Cumbia, a musical style born in the Colombian Caribbean. The ensemble also performs Pulitzer Prize–winner Henry Threadgill’s innovative Sixfivetwo and Merlijn Twaalfhoven's Play. The program concludes with New York’s Aizuri Quartet, winners of Chamber Music America’s 2022 Cleveland Quartet Award, performing At the Purchaser's Option, Rhiannon Giddens' powerful and haunting piece that draws on the experiences of enslaved women; Amrit, a work by Indian violinist, singer, and composer Kala Ramnath; and pencil sketch, a playful and whimsical piece by Yevgeniy Sharlat. Kronos cellist Paul Wiancko joins Aizuri Quartet to perform his own composition Only Ever Us.