Kronos Quartet

On Friday, October 9, 2009, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet will return to Old First Concerts at Old First Church for the first time in over 30 years for a special benefit performance in honor of the 40th anniversary of Old First Concerts. Kronos program will feature signature commissioned works from its extensive repertoire, including music of Sofia Gubaidulina and Hamza El-Din.The evening’s program includes works that span many years of Kronos’ 36-year history, including pieces by Franghiz Ali Zadeh, Café Tacuba and John Zorn. Also on the program are recent works from Ramallah Underground and Ram Narayan, both from Kronos’ latest album Floodplain (Nonesuch). Two works receive their San Francisco premiere at Old First Church – Aheym, a work by composer Bryce Dessner (best known as the guitarist for the rock band The National), and an arrangement of a traditional “Zari” Ritual Lamentation.Over the course of more than three decades, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has commissioned more than 600 new works, performed thousands of concerts world wide, released more than 50 recordings and collaborated with dozens of artists. Working with composers from nearly every corner of the globe, Kronos has literally created a new repertoire for string quartet. A San Francisco-based non-profit organization, the Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association is committed to mentoring emerging musicians and composers, and to creating and performing new works, devoting five months of each year to touring.