Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Event Attributes
To pay tribute to the Kronos Quartet’s 40th anniversary, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center has co-commissioned legendary American composer Philip Glass to write a new work, String Quartet no. 6, that will be the centerpiece of this performance in its East Coast premiere.
Glass has had an extraordinary impact on the musical and intellectual life of his times through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble and his wide-ranging collaborations. The Baltimore native has collaborated extensively with Kronos Quartet in the past. Kronos first recorded a Glass composition in 1985, and in 1993 released the album Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass.
Acknowledged pioneers in contemporary chamber performance, Kronos specializes in new music/contemporary classical music and has commissioned more than 750 works in its 40-year history. This performance marks the Center debut of the Kronos Quartet’s new cellist, Sunny Yang.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. This performance is also made possible in part by support from The MARPAT Foundation.
Review by The Washington Post
[Philip Glass’] almost mathematical approach in the three-movement piece…was in many ways the most traditional of the works presented by a quartet still eager to push for experimentalism.
That showed mostly in the rest of the well-balanced performance at the University of Maryland, which featured an embarrassment of riches from David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt and newcomer Sunny Yang.
– ROGER CATLIN, The Washington Post, October 25, 2013
Review by DCMetroTheaterArts
I never expect less than the finest performances from the the Kronos Quartet. The Quartet presented yet another outstanding demonstration of their virtuosity at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland last night.
– BEV FLEISHER, DCMetroTheaterArts, October 25, 2013
Review by The Washington Times
The east coast premiere of Phillip Glass’s Sixth String Quartet did not disappoint…If some of Glass’s loveliest musical moments have come at the apex of his long development as a composer, this work seemed a meditation on such moments, a collection of “Glassian” ideas set in counterpoint to each other. A real sentimentality emerges from the tall and glowering composer, most clearly evident during the quartet’s touching second movement.
– MARK NOWAKOWSKI, The Washington Times, October 26, 2013
Resources at the the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
Our neighbors at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library have compiled a list of available resources relevant to this performance: