For more than 40 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet has fused musical categories and erased borders. They are impossible to pigeonhole: classical, rock, jazz, or modern? Kronos is really a genre all its own. A recent concert for Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, dedicated to the group's open access education initiative "Fifty for the Future," proved it again.
Starting in 2015, Kronos Quartet — David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello) — has commissioned, and distributed for free, a digital learning library of contemporary repertoire by 25 women and 25 men. Cal Performances is a leading sponsor of the project, and the Berkeley concert featured a variety of new works performed by Kronos and young musicians from the surrounding area.
The ambitious event sailed through a beautifully rehearsed program, which also featured two World Premieres and the appearance of Soo Yeon Lyuh, a virtuoso haegeum (Korean two-stringed bowed instrument) player, composer, and improviser. Her exquisite performance of "Yessori" ("Sound from the Past") (2016) was a transporting highlight.
Similarly, the ancient sound quality of the Chinese pipa colored renowned player and frequent Kronos collaborator Wu Man's (arr. Danny Clay) composition for string quartet, "Four Chinese Paintings" (2015). Bringing traditional styles into the Western string repertoire is perfectly suited to the Kronos mission, and Berkeley High School Quartet — violinists Lev Gordon-Feierabend and Clio Petty, violist Natalie Couch, and cellist Zealin Glickrieman — played the evocative suite with remarkable understanding.
A sympathetic synthesis was also apparent in Rhiannon Giddens' (arr. Jacob Garchik) "At the Purchaser's Option with variations" (2016), performed with idiomatic flair by the Oakland School for the Arts Quartet, comprised of violinists Kayla Phan and Raphaella Brown, violist Izabelle Itom, and cellist Ariadne Bashore-Walker.
Giddens is famous as a singer-songwriter and founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. In a brief video she spoke of her mixed-race heritage and mixed-musical-disciplines background. "At the Purchaser's Option" is an instrumental version of a song from one of her albums inspired by a 19th-century advertisement for a young female slave whose nine-month-old baby was also for sale. The folk-blues accent of the piece put a lively surface on a much sadder subtext.
Other composers appearing in videos included articulate Aleksandra Vrebalov, native of the former Yugoslavia now living in New York City. "My Desert, My Rose" is crafted for the unique capabilities of the performers and their mutual responsiveness. 13 out of 14 pieces Vrebalov has written for string quartet were for Kronos Quartet.
The Crowden School Quartet — violinists Annika Lin and Leila Yokoyama, violist Mali Nguyen, and cellist Meilani Huynh — sketched American composer/pianist Ken Benshoof's "sweeter than wine" (2015) with a lovely feel for the gentle nostalgia of the folk-inflected tune.
A standout audience favorite was Montreal-based composer Nicole Lizee's "Another Living Soul' (2016), cleverly utilizing unconventional instruments (widgets) to add off-beat humor and effects. She describes it as "stop-motion animation for string quartet," and its loopy creativity pays delightful homage to early stop-motion artists like Ray Harryhausen and Ladislas Starevich.
The World Premieres, Mario Galeano Toro's "Tolo Midi" (2018) and Misato Mochizuki's "Boids" (2018), impressed with the infectious rhythmic syncopation of the former and the mysterious quick turns of the latter. "Boids" evokes a flock that moves in unison, disperses and reunifies. "Tolo Midi" is an energetic Colombian encounter with indigenous American, African, and European people.
The concert closed with all of the performers joining as a chamber ensemble for longtime Kronos collaborator Philip Glass' "Quartet Satz" (2017). The composer described Kronos Quartet and the nature of "music of today" with characteristic wit and insight in his video segment. His contribution to "Fifty for the Future" succeeds as affirmation of a wondrously productive partnership, and sums up the beauty of his instantly recognizable and forever fresh music.
Take another trip to Zellerbach Hall this Thurs., 1/31, for the Berkeley Symphony with guest conductor Jonathon Heyward presenting two great gay composers from opposite sides of the Atlantic. Responses to the written word by Benjamin Britten and Leonard Bernstein are on a bill that includes the world premiere of "Disillusioned Dreamer" by Hannah Kendall, inspired by a phrase from Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man." berkeleysymphony.org
Cal Performances is back on our radar in March when SF Symphony Music Director Designate Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Berkeley with London's Philharmonia Orchestra. Three exciting programs include a cello concerto by the conductor himself and the world premiere of a Cal Performances co-commission about Bay Area immigrants, "Dreamers" by composer Jimmy Lopez and librettist Nilo Cruz. calperformances.org