PAST EVENT

Kronos Quartet with Mahsa Vahdat
Music for Change: The Banned Countries

As a direct protest to the Executive Orders limiting travel to the United States by people from Muslim majority countries, Kronos performs a program featuring music that highlights the rich diversity of artistic voices from Muslim majority countries.

“It’s hard to imagine a time when the Kronos Quartet was not emphatically crossing musical boundaries, from its early days covering Jimi Hendrix to its most recent collaborations with Malian griots. But its latest project responds cogently to an era of increasingly policed and politicized borders.” – New York Times

“All told, [‘Music for Change: The Banned Countries’] amounts to a rich and distinctive mixtape, amplifying themes of dignity, resistance, and harmonious coexistence.” – The New Yorker

KRONOS QUARTET
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh / Mugam Sayagi **

Islam Chipsy (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Zaghlala (Blurred vision caused by strong light hitting the eyes) *

Traditional (arr. Stephen Prutsman) / Wa Habibi (Beloved) +

Ramallah Underground (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Tashweesh **

Fatimah Al-Zaelaeyah (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Ya Mun Dakhal Bahr Al-Hawa (Hey, Who Enters The Sea of Passion?) + World premiere

Omar Souleyman (arr. Jacob Garchik) / La Sidounak Sayyada (I’ll Prevent the Hunters from Hunting You) +

Traditional (arr. Milad Yousufi) / Bia Ke Berem Ba Mazar +

Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Tegere Tulon: III. Kalime * World premiere

Dur-Dur Band (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Dooyo +

Hamza El Din (realized by Tohru Ueda) / Escalay (Water Wheel) **

KRONOS QUARTET AND MAHSA VAHDAT
Mahsa Vahdat (arr. Sahba Aminikia) / The Sun Rises +
The Sun Rises
Vanishing Lines
My Ruthless Companion

Mahsa Vahdat (arr. Atabak Elyasi) / Songs +
Leyli’s Nightingales
I Was Dead

INTERSTITIAL MUSIC
Bass lines by Mamadou Kouyaté *
Sound collages by David Harrington, Joel Tarman, and Nikolás McConnie-Saad *

Performed without pause

PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE
*Composed for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire
** Written for Kronos / + Arranged for Kronos

Reviews of previous concerts
“A continually transportive experience… This program of works is not just a protest against the executive orders revoking visas and limiting entry into the U.S.for nationals of some of these countries. It’s also a cultural exchange program, giving composers from these places an audience, inviting American listeners to hear their music. The quartet’s long experience with culturally diverse and politically charged music made this project a natural fit.” – San Francisco Classical Voice