Reporter Jeremy Scahill (author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Mercenary Army) traces the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command, the most secret fighting force in U.S. history, exposing operations carried out by men who do not exist on paper and will never appear before Congress. No target is off-limits for the JSOC “kill list,” even a U.S. citizen. Director Richard Rowley takes the viewer on a chilling ride with whistle-blower Scahill.

The New York Times called the film “utterly riveting” and named it a Critics’ Pick.

The film opens today in New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, with more screenings scheduled for June 14 and beyond. View the full list of screenings here.

As the composer chosen for Under 30 / #5, Kouyoumdjian will be commissioned to write a new work for Kronos. She will meet with the group in early May during their New York visit to perform at Zankel Hall, and will be in residence this fall at the Lucas Artists Residency Program at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California, where she will work in close consultation with Kronos. The resulting composition will premiere in Spring 2014 in San Francisco as part of Kronos’ 40th anniversary season, and will also be recorded.

In conjunction with the announcement of the latest Under 30 commission, Kronos Quartet is releasing a digital-only compilation of the four previous commissions, available starting today on Kronos’ website. Titled Under 30 Project: 1 – 4 and performed by the quartet, the recording includes: Alexandra du Bois, String Quartet No. 1 (2003); Felipe Pérez Santiago, CampoSanto (2004); Dan Visconti, Love Bleeds Radiant (2005); and Aviya Kopelman, Widows & Lovers (2007). Diverse in style, these pieces have all been championed by Kronos in major venues all over the world. For a limited time, the complete album is available for $1.99. 

The latest installment of the Under 30 Project was open to all composers who had not reached the age of 30 by the application deadline. (Kouyoumdjian was 29 at the time; she has since turned 30.) Choosing a recipient from the hundreds of applicants was no simple matter: “What people are writing now is amazing, just thrilling,” says Kronos Quartet’s Artistic Director, David Harrington. “As we narrowed down the field, we were looking for someone who seemed poised to write their breakthrough piece. And every time I came back to Mary’s work, I was magnetized. She’s an exceptional composer, incredibly creative, and her connection to her family’s Armenian history has brought her sensibility into a very beautiful place.” 

Says Kouyoumdjian, “I grew up listening to Kronos Quartet’s recordings, so Kronos already holds a special place in my musical development. I’m thrilled and inspired to be writing for them – aside from their incredible musicianship, their openness to political and world music really excites me, and the fact that this collaboration stems out of my hometown of San Francisco makes for an even more personal connection. For a composer, working with a group like Kronos opens amazingly imaginative possibilities – their music is truly without borders, and that’s how I want my music to be.”

Kronos: Under 30 Project / #5 is supported by Hancher at the University of Iowa, Syracuse University, the Board of Directors of the Kronos Performing Arts Association, and individual backers of the Kronos: Under 30 Project / #5 Kickstarter campaign. Additional support was provided by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program at Montalvo Arts Center.

ABOUT MARY KOUYOUMDJIAN

Mary Kouyoumdjian is dedicated to composing music that pushes the boundaries of expectation and musical tradition. As a first-generation Armenian-American, and having come from a family directly affected by the Lebanese Civil War and Armenian Genocide, she uses a sonic palette that draws on her heritage, interest in folk music, and background in experimental composition to progressively blend the old with the new.

With compositions ranging from concert works to multimedia collaborations and film scores, Kouyoumdjian has received commissions from the American Composers Forum/JFund for her piece Dzov Yerku Kooynov [Sea of Two Colors], REDSHIFT for their “Arctic Sounds” series, the Los Angeles New Music Ensemble, Experiments in Opera, and violinist Andie Springer for Dandelion (for Andie Springer). Her chamber and multimedia pieces have been recorded by such performers as internationally acclaimed cellist Charles Curtis and flutist John Fonville, and have been presented by the Boston New Music Initiative and Ear Heart Music. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Kouyoumdjian also actively promotes the growth of new music in California.

Kouyoumdjian has worked as an orchestrator, composer, and music editor for film, television, and advertising. Holding a B. A. in Music Composition from the University of California, San Diego and an M.A. in Scoring for Film and Multimedia from New York University, Kouyoumdjian has studied contemporary composition with Chaya Czernowin, Steven Kazuo Takasugi, and Chinary Ung; new music performance with Steve Schick; and modern jazz with Anthony Davis. She is also a co-founder and the executive director of the NY-based contemporary music ensemble Hotel Elefant.

ABOUT LUCAS ARTISTS RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Lucas Artists Residency Program (LAP) fosters a community of highly motivated, talented, creative and critical minds from a range of disciplines and geographical areas. Residencies are offered in all contemporary artistic disciplines, including the visual arts, design, literary arts, film, choreography, performance art, music and composition, as well as teaching and culinary arts. LAP artists-in-residence enjoy unique access to the resources of the Montalvo Arts Center, enabling them to present their work to Bay Area audiences.  Montalvo’s artist residency is the third oldest in the United States, and the oldest west of the Mississippi. After a temporary closure in 1999 for extensive renovations, the LAP re‐opened in 2004 as one of the largest and most advanced sets of facilities specifically built as an artist residency for an international, multi‐disciplinary program of artists and scholars. The state‐of‐the‐art center consists of ten live/work studios and a commons building designed by six teams of renowned architects and artists, located on 10 acres of land within a 175‐acre park.

Participants need to fill an application form and return by April 15th, 2013. Applications should include:

1.  CD or DVD recording of the following:

Terry Riley: Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector from Kronos Collection, Vol. 1 (recommended)

OR a late 20th-century quartet of their choice,

AND, any quartet of your choice

2. Two recommendation letters (per string quartet)

Fees:
Application fee € 40 (per string quartet)
Participation fee: € 400 (per string quartet)

A limited number of observers will be allowed to follow the sessions of work during the residency.

Observer’s Fee: €30 per person for all residency sessions (payable at the door)
Observers can apply by sending an email to justin.galea@maltaculture.com.

Application deadline: April 15th, 2013
Download application: click here.
For more information contact: justin.galea@maltaculture.com

 

Born in Incheon, South Korea, Yang emigrated at a young age with her family to Pretoria, South Africa, where she resided until attending Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Royal Northern Conservatory of Music in Manchester, England, where she studied with eminent cellist Ralph Kirshbaum. She completed her studies with Kirshbaum at USC’s Thornton School of Music, where she earned a Masters of Music. She has served on the faculty of the Young Artist Program at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music School and Festival in Putney, Vermont.

“I’m unbelievably thrilled to be joining Kronos!” Yang says. “The Quartet has always been an inspiration to me, and I never dreamed that one day I would be part of this fantastic and unique ensemble. I’m looking forward to creating and sharing exciting music with my new colleagues.”

Says Kronos’ Artistic Director David Harrington, “Sunny Yang will bring incredible artistry and energy to Kronos as we continue our exploration of today’s music.  Each of our three line-ups over the past 35 years has had its own special character. I’m really excited to hear how our sound evolves with Sunny in the group.

“At the same time, I’m reflecting on the amazing musical adventures that we’ve had with Jeffrey Zeigler over these past eight years. We will miss his own unique musicianship — and we’re looking forward to our remaining concerts with him this winter and spring.  We wish Jeff the very best as he moves on to new artistic projects.”

Zeigler’s departure is motivated by his desire to work on solo projects and new collaborations, and to begin teaching at Mannes College The New School For Music. He is relocating to Brooklyn, where his wife, the composer Paola Prestini, has become the Creative Director of the heralded new music venue OMW (Original Music Workshop).

Zeigler said of Kronos, “I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to create music with some of the world’s most exciting artists in many of the world’s most prestigious venues. It has been an honor and a joy for me to share the stage with David, John and Hank. They are wonderful colleagues and will continue to be my friends. I would like to thank them and the entire organization for their tireless work and support over these past eight years.”

Ziegler’s last performances with Kronos will be May 10 + 11 at Peak Performances in Montclair, NJ, where the group will perform with violinist/performance artist/composer Laurie Anderson in Landfall, an evening-length collaboration. Yang will take the stage with Kronos for the first time on June 22, inaugurating the quartet’s 40th-anniversary season with a free concert featuring Chinese pipa player Wu Man at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, CT.  The new season will continue with premiere performances of Kronos-commissioned works by Philip Glass, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Terry Riley, Karin Rehnqvist, and Amon Tobin, among several other composers.

Says Kronos’ long-time, Grammy-winning record producer Judith Sherman, who brought both Zeigler and Yang to the group’s attention, “Sunny truly embodies her name. Her playing is joyful, beautiful, and meaningful. I think she’s going to be a fabulous addition to Kronos.”

Photo credits:
Sunny Jungin Yang: Photo courtsey of Music@Menlo/Tristan Cook
Jeffrey Zeigler: Photo by Jay Blakesberg

The concerts feature two world premieres: And the Movement of the Tongue, a new work for string quartet and electronics by San Francisco’s celebrated media artist Pamela Z, inspired by the diversity of accents heard on the city’s streets; and String Quartet No. 3 “The Mezzanine,” a new piece by Nathaniel Stookey, who at age 17 was the youngest composer ever commissioned for the San Francisco Symphony’s New and Unusual Music Series.

The program also features the West Coast premiere of Carrying the Past by Dan Becker, chair of the composition department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Pieces from Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, and Turkey, heard in “musical translations” by area composer Stephen Prutsman, complete the program. (Watch video interviews with the composers here.)

Says David Harrington, Founder and Artistic Director of the quartet, “The idea of putting together a program of local music that is so varied, with compositional voices that are so distinct, is thrilling. If you look at all of the cultures and traditions around the world that we’ve explored in our music, you’re really holding up a mirror to San Francisco’s own incredibly diverse culture… Here, ‘Listen Local’ really means ‘Listen Global.’” Stookey is a San Francisco native and UC Berkeley graduate; Z and Becker have made the Bay Area their home since the early eighties, Prutsman since the early nineties.

The concerts take place at YBCA’s Lam Research Theater and begin at 8 pm. They are co-presented by the Kronos Performing Arts Association and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Learn more and purchase tickets here.

Michael Hearst (One Ring Zero, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks) celebrates some of the lesser-known creatures that roam the planet: from the Bilby, to the Magnopinna Squid, to the Chinese Giant Salamander. The album and book are available on his website.

What surprised me most about that experience is that it wasn’t Kronos performing the piece. It was a quartet of teenagers: the Pannonia Quartet. That’s right—the young ensemble took its name from this piece, commissioned by Kronos, whose composer was herself a young student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music when I first met her back in 1995. The Pannonia Quartet approached the work in a very different way than Kronos—and it was absolutely right: inspired, vibrant, thrilling… and their own.

Beyond the euphoria of that moment, witnessing one of Kronos’ signature works take on new life in the hands of a new generation, I’m inspired by how the work of our organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association, contributed to that performance on so many levels:

-The commissioning of Aleksandra’s piece (and more than 750 others, by composers from around the world, ranging in age from 18 to 80)
-Kronos’ coaching sessions with Pannonia Quartet (and so many other young musicians from elementary through college levels and beyond)
-The recording of the work for our 1999 Kronos Caravan album
-The concert tours that enabled Kronos to bring Pannonia Boundless to global audiences
-And still more projects and programs.

It’s the work of many more than four people. Kronos Performing Arts Association includes our collaborating musicians, our incredible staff and board of directors, concert presenters and foundations that believe in our work, and generous donors who share Kronos’ vision of the future of music—people just like you.

And so, I would like to ask you to join us in this important work by making a year-end gift to Kronos Performing Arts Association today.  Your generous support now will benefit us throughout our 40th Anniversary year, as we extend our commitments to commissioning new works, mentoring young performers, bringing music to audiences worldwide, and contributing to the global dialogue on the bright future of music. Thank you!

Sincerely,

David Harrington
Founder, Artistic Director, Violinist
Kronos Quartet / Kronos Performing Arts Association

Thinking of friends who might have been pulling my leg, I thought, Kronos couldn’t have really chosen me as their next Under 30 composer! The thought of being the next person chosen for Kronos’ commissioning & mentoring program for young artists seemed unreal. However, within minutes I had made contact with David and was beginning one of the most important artistic collaborations of my composing career.

Working with Kronos through the Kronos Under 30 Project was a fulfilling musical experience in which I was able to learn the ropes of collaborating with a major arts organization. Through feedback on my score and many revisions along the way, I was not only able to create a piece of music that I was proud of, but more importantly, the process led me to identify compositional approaches and techniques that have served me well ever since.

The project also helped me embrace the idea that a contemporary composer should be more than a creator and rather a kind of cultural ambassador deeply connected to his or her community—just like Kronos are connected to theirs.

And I am just one of hundreds of composers that Kronos’ non-profit organization, the Kronos Performing Arts Association, has commissioned over the past 40 years, resulting in more than 750 new works. Through KPAA, Kronos also coaches young musicians around the world, gives concerts in its San Francisco Bay Area home region, and more.

And so, I would like to ask you to help make this important work happen by making a year-end gift to Kronos Performing Arts Association today. It’s easy to give online, and there are a number of donor levels and benefits to choose from.

Your support will benefit Kronos throughout their 40th Anniversary year, as they extend their commitments to commissioning new works, mentoring young composers, bringing music to audiences worldwide, and contributing to the global dialogue on the bright future of music. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Dan Visconti

The tour kicks off at the Perth Festival (Feb 27) with our new evening-length collaboration with legendary artist / composer Laurie Anderson, which premieres at Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in February before traveling to Australia, California, New Jersey, and the UK. The following day (Feb 28) in Perth, Kronos performs Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11, as well as works from Syria, Vietnam, India, and Sweden.

The Australian tour continues with the new Laurie Anderson collaboration at the Adelaide Festival (Mar 2), followed by a program featuring Kronos & JG Thirlwell’s Manorexia, with special guest Bryce Dessner of the National (Mar 4). We’ll be joined on stage by Bryce Dessner, and JG Thirlwell’s Manorexia will be joined by the Zephyr Quartet.

Melbourne Recital Hall is our next stop in Australia (Mar 6). The program highlights four Australian premieres, including String Quartet No. 3 by Valentin Silvestrov - whom Arvo Pärt called “the world’s greatest living composer” - and Nicole Lizee’s The Golden Age of the Radiophonic Workshop [Fibre-Optic Flowers], which received its premiere at the BBC Proms this summer.

The tour closes with our first trip back to New Zealand in eight years. Pipa virtuoso & longtime collaborator Wu Man joins us at the Auckland Festival for A Chinese Home and Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera (Mar 9). In Wellington (Mar 11), Dunedin (Mar 13), and Christchurch (Mar 14) we’ll perform music by New Zealand’s own Jack Body, as well as works by Steve Reich and Aleksandra Vrebalov.

Learn more about our upcoming Australia and New Zealand performances here.

“We have always had the fondest feelings for Elliott and Helen Carter. During the 1980s we would frequently see them at our concerts. It could be Venice, Warsaw, Paris or New York. They were so energetic and enthusiastic. Usually, Elliott would have just come from teaching a young composer. There was one concert at New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall where Sting was somehow sitting next to Elliott. Helen was the one who knew the full meaning of this interesting juxtaposition.

I remember especially one rehearsal of his String Quartet No. 2 with him—it was also at the time we were making an album of the music of Thelonious Monk. We played his music slowly, trying to get it right. I noticed how Monk-like his music sounded when we played it slow and mentioned this to Elliott. He remembered hearing Monk in a club in Greenwich Village. This from the man who knew Charles Ives and so many others! Who knows how music really works?

Elliott wrote the magical and mysterious Fragment No. 1 for us in 1994 in order to honor and remember our friend, David Huntley. A truly generous man, Elliott Carter pointed the way for all musicians as he continued to write amazingly distilled, vital music into his eleventh decade. He probably set a record every time he wrote a new piece for the last twenty years. He was one-of-a-kind, made-in-America. We are honored to have known him.”

—David Harrington, 11/9/12