Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet, 2022 artist in residence at the Bergen International Festival, performs in Europe for the first time in several years. At this Håkonshallen concert they perform a varied selection from their extensive list of commissioned works, including music by Nina Simone and Missy Mazzoli. 

For more than 45 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually reimagine the string quartet experience. In the process Kronos has become one of the world's most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, releasing more than 60 recordings, collaborating with countless composers and performers, and commissioning over a thousand works and arrangements for string quartet. The group has won over 40 awards, including three Grammys. 

The nonprofit Kronos Performing Arts Association manages all aspects of Kronos's work, including concert tours and home season performances, education programmes and the annual Kronos Festival. In 2015, Kronos launched Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, an education and legacy project that is commissioning – and distributing online for free – 50 new works for string quartet written by composers from around the world, several of which you can hear at this special Festival concert.

'Kronos Quartet remains a living, breathing world-heritage site for music' – NPR MUSIC

Photo: Jay Blakesberg

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Kronos Quartet is also doing a family concert at the Bergen Aquarium, and you can meet the four musicians in a conversation at Kulturhuset in an event to be launched later. The quartet also performs at the Opening Ceremony, and will participate in workshops during their Festival stay. 

Bergen International Festival is a Commissioning Partner for Kronos Quartet's Fifty for the Future. This partnership between Kronos Quartet and Bergen International Festival is made possible by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation. 

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