KRONOS FESTIVAL 2017: Here and Now

Opening Night / “The Sun Rises”
Kronos Quartet with Mahsa Vahdat, San Francisco Girls Chorus, and students from Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts

Sahba Aminikia / Grandma’s House *  World premiere
with special guests Students from Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts

Trey Spruance / Séraphîta **
I. Séraphîta
II. Agesilaus Santander
III. Le Baphomet
IV. The Angel of the West Window
V. Séraphîtüs

Pete Townshend (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Baba O’Riley +

Mark Applebaum / Darmstadt Kindergarten *

Mahsa Vahdat (arr. Sahba Aminikia) / The Sun Rises +  World premiere
The Sun Rises
Vanishing Line
My Ruthless Companion
with special guest Mahsa Vahdat, vocalist

INTERMISSION

Kala Ramnath (arr. Reena Esmail) / Amrit **

Guillermo Gallindo / NEW WORK **  World premiere

Sahba Aminikia / Music of the Spheres *  World premiere
with special guest San Francisco Girls Chorus
conducted by Valérie Sainte-Agathe

About

The festival will open with the first of ten featured works composed or arranged by the festival’s artist-in-residence Sahba Aminikia. Performed by Kronos and students from the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, “Grandma’s House” is a joyful fanfare inspired by Aminikia’s nostalgia for 1980s Iranian children’s television shows. The evening will feature two incredible locally-based guest artists. The mesmerizing Iranian vocalist (and Oakland newcomer) Mahsa Vahdat will sing songs from her recent a cappella album The Sun Will Rise (Kirkelig Kulturverksted), among others, with new arrangements for herself and Kronos by Aminikia. Returning after last year’s critically acclaimed performance of Aminikia’s “Sound Only Sound Remains,” the vibrant and expressive San Francisco Girls Chorus will premiere his “Music of the Spheres,” which he calls “a lullaby without borders.” The new piece features the melodies and lyrics of lullabies from three different regions of Iran, as well as documented sounds from the youth choir and ensembles of the Afghan National Institute of Music, an inspiring program that gives Afghanistan’s most disadvantaged children a safe place to grow, learn, and play music.

The concert will spotlight three works composed for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire by Bay Area artists, including Trey Spruance (of Secret Chiefs 3 and Mr. Bungle), celebrated Indian classical violinist Kala Ramnath, and “post-Mexican” experimental composer Guillermo Galindo. Launched in 2015, Kronos’ Fifty for the Future is an education program that is commissioning a free, open-access library of string quartets for the express purpose of guiding students and early-career professionals in developing and honing the skills required for the performance of 21st-century repertoire. The opening night program also includes an unusual instrumental and choreographic work by Stanford University professor Mark Applebaum and a cover of “Baba O’Riley” – The Who’s tribute to the influential California-based composer Terry Riley.

Reserved Seating / Robert N. Miner Auditorium
Tickets: $20 / $30 / $45 / $65 // Buy tickets >