About Kronos Fifty for the Future

In 2015, the Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), the San Francisco-based non-profit organization of the Kronos Quartet launched Kronos Fifty for the Future, an education and legacy project that has commissioned—and distributed for free—the first learning library of contemporary repertoire for string quartet. Fifty new works have been commissioned, and scores and parts, as well as supplemental learning materials that include recordings, videos, performance notes, and composer interviews, are available on kronosquartet.org. Lead partner Carnegie Hall and an adventurous group of project partners, including presenters, academic institutions, foundations, and individuals, have joined forces with KPAA to support this exciting program.

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HOW CAN I USE THESE WORKS?

All Kronos Fifty for the Future works are free and available for all to access and perform worldwide! As the rightsholder, KPAA grants worldwide performance rights for the entire Kronos Fifty for the Future catalog, including for live music concerts, adjudicated concerts, etc., with public performances to be reported to ASCAP, BMI, or any other performing society or collecting agency associated with the piece being performed.

For any other uses of this music beyond a standard live performance, including but not limited to livestreamed performances, broadcast performances (TV, film, video, and/or Internet), dramatic performances (theater, dance/ballet performances, musicals, operas), performances for commercial recordings (audio and/or video), or any usage of Kronos’ recordings of the pieces, please contact licensing@kronosarts.com for the appropriate permissions.

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HOW CAN I USE THESE WORKS?

All Kronos Fifty for the Future works are free and available for all to access and perform worldwide! As the rightsholder, KPAA grants worldwide performance rights for the entire Kronos Fifty for the Future catalog, including for live music concerts, adjudicated concerts, etc., with public performances to be reported to ASCAP, BMI, or any other performing society or collecting agency associated with the piece being performed.

For any other uses of this music beyond a standard live performance, including but not limited to livestreamed performances, broadcast performances (TV, film, video, and/or Internet), dramatic performances (theater, dance/ballet performances, musicals, operas), performances for commercial recordings (audio and/or video), or any usage of Kronos’ recordings of the pieces, please contact licensing@kronosarts.com for the appropriate permissions.

THE STORY

When Kronos was imagining ways to mark its 40th anniversary in 2013, Carnegie Hall was making plans for its 125th. During discussions about what they might do together for these milestones, Kronos proposed commissioning a new body of work for young musicians—a concept which resonated with both organizations. Over the next year, the seed blossomed into an ambitious plan to commission 50 new string quartets by composers from around the world, and to make them available for free. Kronos had always been known for developing new work, having commissioned more than 1,000 pieces since it was formed in 1973, but this program represented the largest single artistic and educational project the Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA) had ever undertaken.

David Harrington the OCSA Strong Quartet

Launched in 2015, Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire was a response to a need. There is no shortage of repertoire available to those who wish to specialize in the canon of works from Haydn through the composers of the 20th century, but until now, there has been no coordinated body of work devoted to contemporary string quartets. Now called Kronos Fifty for the Future, this initiative enables both student and professional musicians to engage with a wide range of contemporary techniques and ideas of string quartet performance, all while working through ascending levels of complexity. Kronos itself has been fully immersed in this music, having learned, recorded, and incorporated all 50 works into its repertoire.

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Launched in 2015, Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire was a response to a need. There is no shortage of repertoire available to those who wish to specialize in the canon of works from Haydn through the composers of the 20th century, but until now, there has been no coordinated body of work devoted to contemporary string quartets. Now called Kronos Fifty for the Future, this initiative enables both student and professional musicians to engage with a wide range of contemporary techniques and ideas of string quartet performance, all while working through ascending levels of complexity. Kronos itself has been fully immersed in this music, having learned, recorded, and incorporated all 50 works into its repertoire.

Now, with all the materials distributed online for free, users around the world are able to access the scores and parts, recordings, program notes, and video interviews for all the pieces. To date, more than 32,000 scores have been downloaded in 107 countries and territories. From Abu Dhabi to Washington, D.C., Singapore to Oakland, Kronos has worked with thousands of young musicians performing Kronos Fifty for the Future works, and other professional string quartets have embraced the collection as well. Several pieces have been arranged for different ensembles such as woodwind groups, string orchestras, and more. Dance companies have choreographed new works using the collection, and electronic musicians have created re-mixes.

A multi-million-dollar project, Kronos Fifty for the Future was built by a community: over the past decade, more than 50 arts organizations and presenters around the world have joined Carnegie Hall in providing unprecedented financial support to realize this unique initiative, and dozens of funders and individuals have joined in as well. Kronos/KPAA is grateful to those who made and continue to make this project possible, and we look forward to shepherding the collection to new generations of musicians and audiences for years to come.

KQ SFUSD SFCM rehearsal 2019
About

From David Harrington

Artistic Director, Kronos Quartet
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I was lucky.

The very first string quartet piece I ever heard was Beethoven's Op. 127, his twelfth string quartet. Even now, I can hear those opening E flat major chords inside of me. The resonance is amazing. The thick, rich, human sound, where each tone seems to amplify the others, where each instrument's color seems perfectly balanced with all the others–this was my introduction to a magical, interior world of expression. And I kept playing those opening chords over and over again on the LP. The Budapest Quartet in 1961 made the kind of sound I wanted to make, I had to make. I went to the Seattle Public Library and checked out the score and parts to Op. 127. I called some friends from the Seattle Youth Symphony and very soon, with three others, I was in a small practice room at the University of Washington giving the opening cue. For an instant we made that sound! I had a tingle up my back that I can remember even now and that has propelled me all of these years. I still want to make that sound.

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"That’s how it works, in my opinion. You hear something that changes the way you think, then you try to make that sound for yourself and you have begun to add to your collection of essential homemade musical experiences. With some practice you get a little closer to replicating that original point of entry. You discover a process, a social fabric that leads to the sound you have now internalized, and there is no turning back. Because nothing else feels as right.

"So in my case, my point of entry into the world of the string quartet was in the experienced, exceptional hands of one of the greatest artists in musical history. It was not watered down to make me like it. This was the real thing. Beethoven forged something beautiful from the life he had to deal with. People know when they are being told the truth. Kids know when adults are giving them the very best information. As a twelve year old I recognized something enormously wonderful in those opening chords. And when I was able to be involved in making it myself I was hooked.

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"That’s how it works, in my opinion. You hear something that changes the way you think, then you try to make that sound for yourself and you have begun to add to your collection of essential homemade musical experiences. With some practice you get a little closer to replicating that original point of entry. You discover a process, a social fabric that leads to the sound you have now internalized, and there is no turning back. Because nothing else feels as right.

"So in my case, my point of entry into the world of the string quartet was in the experienced, exceptional hands of one of the greatest artists in musical history. It was not watered down to make me like it. This was the real thing. Beethoven forged something beautiful from the life he had to deal with. People know when they are being told the truth. Kids know when adults are giving them the very best information. As a twelve year old I recognized something enormously wonderful in those opening chords. And when I was able to be involved in making it myself I was hooked.

"The inspiration for wanting the greatest, most creative and imaginative composers to make string quartet pieces for young people that they can use as points of entry to their future is precisely my own experience, having the guidance for all of these years of those unforgettable E flat major chords. What would happen if the best possible composers were able to marshal their years of experience, their very best thoughts and consciously create a body of musical information that would provide young players with the emotional and technical tools to improve their skills? What would happen if we could, through our years of working with hundreds of composers from many places, make a body of incredibly interesting, fun music that could serve the next generation as a launching pad to a world of discovery?

Hank Dutt with violinist Clara Kim from Argus Quartet during Carnegie Hall Weill Institute Workshop photo by Stefan Cohen

"Through Kronos’ 50 for the Future, we are now in the process of filling this need, of creating a thought-out primer, created by our very best collaborators. This primer is in part inspired by Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos, which he wrote for his son as an entry point to piano studies. Each piece explores necessary issues needed for the future. Each piece is a real piece, a real investment in making a future in music possible. We have access to the worldwide community of exceptionally creative people capable of making a multifaceted primer for the youngest enthusiasts among us. We have now chosen all 50 composers who have agreed to make one spoke in this wheel, and they are all very enthusiastic about contributing to something that will lead young players toward the music of the future. With careful work, I am confident we will end up with magical entry points for players to enter the world of string quartet ensemble music for the 21st century."

Kronos rehearsing with students from Ruth Asawa San Francisco School for the Arts courtesy of Asawa SOTA

"Through Kronos’ 50 for the Future, we are now in the process of filling this need, of creating a thought-out primer, created by our very best collaborators. This primer is in part inspired by Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos, which he wrote for his son as an entry point to piano studies. Each piece explores necessary issues needed for the future. Each piece is a real piece, a real investment in making a future in music possible. We have access to the worldwide community of exceptionally creative people capable of making a multifaceted primer for the youngest enthusiasts among us. We have now chosen all 50 composers who have agreed to make one spoke in this wheel, and they are all very enthusiastic about contributing to something that will lead young players toward the music of the future. With careful work, I am confident we will end up with magical entry points for players to enter the world of string quartet ensemble music for the 21st century."

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David Harrington

Founder & Artistic Director
Kronos Quartet