Kronos Quartet to spend a week in residence on campus

This month Kronos Quartet will spend a weeklong residency at the UI,
including two concerts at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

The first, at 8 p.m. Sept. 23 in the Colwell Playhouse, features George
Crumb's "Black Angels," a musical portrait of the Vietnam War. At 8 p.m.
Sept. 24 in the Foellinger Great Hall, the quartet performs with Hamza El
Din, a Nubian musician who was featured on the group's popular "Pieces of
Africa" album. Din replaces Foday Musa Suso, who was originally scheduled
for the performance.

During their residency, Kronos Quartet and Hamza El Din will work with
students in the UI School of Music, including those in composition, string
performance and musicology. Kronos also will offer an informal
concert/discussion as part of the Frances P. Rohlen Visiting Artist and
Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held
at 3 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Foellinger Great Hall.

Since its inception in 1973, Kronos Quartet has revolutionized the chamber
music repertoire by combining a unique musical vision with a fearless
dedication to experimentation. Its extensive repertoire ranges from Dimitri
Shostakovich, Anton von Webern and Charles Ives to Astor Piazzolla, John
Cage and Howlin' Wolf. In addition to working closely with such modern
artists as Terry Riley, John Zorn and H.M. Gorecki, Kronos commissions new
works from today's most innovative composers around the world, extending
its reach as far as Zimbabwe, Australia, Japan, Argentina and Azerbaijan.

The work "Black Angels" holds special significance for the group: When
violinist David Harrington first heard the work in 1973, he was fascinated
by it and felt driven to perform the work someday. He founded the Kronos
Quartet with that goal in mind. Composed by Crumb in 1970, "Black Angels"
uses an arsenal of sounds including shouting, whistling, whispering, gongs,
maracas and crystal glasses to depict the Vietnam War. It was recorded by
Kronos in 1990 and will be performed with special lighting effects in this
concert.

With its 1992 album "Pieces of Africa," Kronos Quartet hit the top of both
the classical music and world music charts. The album features works
written for the quartet by African composers, merging African sounds and
rhythms with the string quartet idiom. Hamza El Din, whose work "Escalay"
("Waterwheel") is included on the album, introduced the oud, a lute-like
instrument, to Western audiences in the 1960s. A virtuosic musician, El Din
also plays the tar, a hand-held circular drum.

Tickets for the Sept. 23 performance are $21($20 for students and senior
citizens); for the Sept. 24 concert, $21, $20 and $19 ($19, $18 and $17 for
students and senior citizens). UI students are eligible for a $5 discount
for both performance.