Workshop Leaders
Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, Violin
John Sherba, Violin
Hank Dutt, Viola
Jeffrey Zeigler, Cello
For more than 30 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet 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 ensembles of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 45 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning more than 650 works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos's work also has garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and Musicians of the Year (2003) from Musical America.
Since 1973, Kronos has built a compellingly diverse repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording works by 20th-century masters (Bartók, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary composers (Aleksandra Vrebalov, John Adams, Alfred Schnittke), jazz legends (Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk), and artists from even farther afield (Azeri vocalist Alim Qasimov, avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn).
Integral to Kronos's work is a series of long-running, in-depth collaborations with many of the world's foremost composers, including Terry Riley, whose work with Kronos includes Salome Dances for Peace, the multimedia production Sun Rings, and 2005's The Cusp of Magic; Philip Glass, recording his complete string quartets and scores to films like Mishima; Azerbaijan's Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, who was featured on the 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; and many more.
In addition to composers, Kronos counts numerous artists from around the world among its regular collaborators, including Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man; legendary Bollywood "playback singer" Asha Bhosle; Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; and the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks. Kronos has performed live with the likes of icons Allen Ginsberg, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, David Barsamian, Howard Zinn, Betty Carter, and David Bowie, and has appeared on recordings by such diverse talents as Nine Inch Nails, Amon Tobin, Dan Zanes, DJ Spooky, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading, and Don Walser. Kronos's music features prominently in other media, including film (Requiem for a Dream, 21 Grams, Heat) and dance, with choreographers such as Merce Cunningham and Eiko and Koma.
Kronos 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 such collections as 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's recording and performances reveal only a fraction of the group's commitment to new music. As a non-profit organization, the Kronos Quartet / Kronos Performing Arts Association is committed to mentoring emerging professional performers, and to creating, performing, and recording new works.
Wu Man
Since moving to the United States from China in 1990, pipa virtuoso Wu Man has not only introduced the traditional Chinese instrument and its repertoire to Western audiences, she has successfully worked to give this ancient instrument a new role in today's music. As a result, she has made the pipa accessible to a larger audience, including musicians and composers who value the instrument for its unique tonal qualities and virtuosic character. These efforts were recognized when Wu Man was made a 2008 United States Artists Broad Fellow.
Wu Man continually collaborates with some of today's most distinguished musicians and conductors. She has performed as soloist with many of the world's major orchestras and her touring has taken her to the major music halls of the world. Wu Man is a principal member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, and often performs and records with the groundbreaking Kronos Quartet.
Wu Man began her 2009–2010 concert season at Carnegie Hall as part of Ancient Paths, Modern Voices. Her travels throughout China to select musicians for the festival have been documented on film, Discovering a Musical Heartland: Wu Man's Return to China.
This past November, Wu Man and the Kronos Quartet presented the world premiere of a new staged work with video, A Chinese Home, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng. In May, she is scheduled to perform in Moscow with Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists, with whom she was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009 for Best Small Ensemble Performance (world premiere recording of Tan Dun's Pipa Concerto). She also has plans to tour Europe and Asia with the Silk Road Ensemble, in addition to performing with the Taipei Chinese Traditional Orchestra.
Recent recordings include Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic with the Kronos Quartet on Nonesuch; Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago, featuring Wu Man's performance of Lou Harrison's Pipa Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the CSO Resound label; and New Impossibilities with the Silk Road Ensemble on Sony/BMG.
Born in Hangzhou, China, Wu Man studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she became the first recipient of a master's degree in pipa performance. Wu Man was selected as a Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University, and was selected by Yo-Yo Ma as the winner of the City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize in music and communication. She is also the first artist from China to have performed at the White House. Visit wumanpipa.org for more information.
The Participants
The Annex Quartet
Melissa Wilmot, Violin
Teddy Wiggins, Violin
Yunior Lopez, Viola
Peter Cosbey, Cello
Recognized for its versatile performance of an eclectic repertoire, The Annex Quartet is making its Carnegie Hall debut. Since its founding in 2008 at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory, the quartet has been in high demand throughout Toronto and abroad. Recent performances include recitals in Mazzoleni Hall at The Royal Conservatory, live radio broadcasts on Toronto’s CFMZ Classical 96.3, an All-Russian concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, and a performance at the 2009 Haydn Festival in Montreal. In January 2010, the quartet returned to the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre to celebrate the birthday of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos by performing his rarely heard Fourth String Quartet.
The Annex Quartet collaborates on a regular basis with many distinguished artists. In 2009, the quartet and mezzo-soprano Nina Lorcini released a recording of Ian McAndrew’s Rest. Other projects include performances and recordings of piano quintets by Brahms, Dvořák, and Shostakovich with pianists Samuel Deason, Benjamin Cruchley, and Peter Longworth. The quartet’s repertoire includes works by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Janáček, Piazzolla, and Shostakovich.
More Info