March 6, 2025 | Contact: Steven Swartz, steven@dotdotdotmusic.net |Kacey Fassett, kacey@dotdotdotmusic.net | t. 646 206-3966 | www.dotdotdotmusic.net
3 DAYS / 5 WORLD PREMIERES / 5 EVENTS
First KRONOS FESTIVAL featuring new Kronos lineup
First KRONOS FESTIVAL under the direction of Kronos’ new Managing Director, Ann-Marie Daniels
20+ acclaimed guests and composers
Festival includes two free Kronos Labs + Ellen Reid’s SOUNDWALK in Golden Gate Park
“This year’s Kronos Festival offers multiple doses of good medicine – moments of solace, joy, and deep reflection on humanity’s grief.” – Ann-Marie Daniels
Download artist images + bios (password: 3dotsKEY)
Kronos Quartet’s KRONOS FESTIVAL returns on April 25 – 27, bringing Good Medicine to San Francisco through a wide range of musical innovation and community. Named after a score Terry Riley wrote for Kronos, this year’s Festival seeks to bring healing to the world through music.
This year marks a new chapter in the KRONOS FESTIVAL, featuring the first Bay Area performances of Kronos’ new lineup, with Gabriela Díaz on second violin and Ayane Kozasa on viola joining continuing members David Harrington on first violin and Paul Wiancko on cello. It is also the first Festival to take place under the leadership of Kronos Performing Arts Association’s new Managing Director, Ann-Marie Daniels.
Special guests performing at the festival will range from haegeum master Soo Yeon Lyuh to Norwegian folk musician Benedicte Maurseth, visual artist Ariel Aberg-Riger, renowned Vietnamese instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Võ, multi-instrumentalist Laura Ortman, Tibetan opera singer and dancer Tsering Wangmo Satho, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus under the direction of Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe.
World premieres in KRONOS FESTIVAL 2025 include compositions by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Soo Yeon Lyuh, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Laura Ortman and Tsering Wangmo Satho. Benedite Maurseth and Kristine Tjøgersen’s collaboration, Elja, and inti figgis-vizueta’s Clay Songs and will also receive their West Coast premieres.
Free-admission festival events include two Kronos Labs on Saturday, April 26, with Laura Ortman (3pm) and composer Gabriella Smith (5pm). Ellen Reid’s acclaimed SOUNDWALK in Golden Gate Park also returns for this year’s festival. The selfguided, GPS-enabled public art work, made its Bay Area debut at 2021’s Kronos Festival.
Said David Harrington, Artistic Director of Kronos Quartet, “Good Medicine: Kronos Festival 2025 is a propulsive musical gathering of Kronos’ work with guest artists that magnetize and energize us, providing an opportunity for our home town audience to experience the breadth of music we bring to life. Our programs celebrate Terry Riley’s 90th birthday, 50 years since the end of the War in Vietnam, and music that examines pressing climate issues. We begin new chapters in our musical adventures with galvanizing musicians from many corners of the world of music. ‘Good Medicine’ is what we need right now.”
Shares KPAA Managing Director, Ann-Marie Daniels: "In 2025, more than ever, we need the mind-opening catharsis that innovative art provides, and this year’s Kronos Festival offers multiple doses of good medicine—moments of solace, joy, and deep reflection on humanity’s grief. We’re thrilled for Gabriela Díaz (violin) and Ayane Kozasa (viola) to make their Kronos Festival debut—both are musical powerhouses who bring the quartet to an entirely new sonic dimension. We hope you’ll join us for a weekend of connection and conversation through music.”
C O N C E R T…P R O G R A M S
Friday, April 25 (7:30 pm Pacific Time)
Program #1 – world premieres by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Soo Yeon Lyuh, and Aleksandra Vrebalov (120 minutes)
KRONOS FESTIVAL 2025 opens with Terry Riley’s Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace, an epic, two-hour-long string quartet. This movement serves as the last selection of the ballet, which tells the story of Salome using her alluring powers to create peace in the world. This important piece was described by Riley as “not. . . just a concert piece but a piece that could be played as a rite.” Following this will be the first world premiere of the evening, Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Folk Faer Andlit, written in response to the mistreatment of refugees in Iceland. This new arrangement of her 2020 release transforms the evocative plainchant sound of the original into haunting, interwoven melodies. Also on the program is the world premiere of Soo Yeon Lyuh’s Sumbisori , which brings the virtuosity of her haegeum playing to the story of a singular, ancient and disappearing way of life on Jeju Island, and Cardinal Directions by Aleksandra Vrebalov, which will mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War and feature master Vietnamese instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Võ alongside Kronos. Peni Candra Rini’s timely and elemental Segara Gunung: IV. Hujan, Gabriella Smith’s uplifting Keep Going and A Shout, a traditional arrangement by Jacob Garchik, will complete the program.
Saturday, April 26 (7:30 pm Pacific Time)
Program #2 – West Coast premieres by Benedicte Maurseth & Kristine Tjøgersen and inti figgis-vizueta (120 minutes)
Program #2 of KRONOS FESTIVAL showcases two West Coast premieres: inti figgisvizueta’s Clay Songs, a work inspired by Pre-Columbian sounding objects and the interplay of past and present voices, and Benedicte Maurseth & Kristine Tjøgersen’s Elja, a Hardanger quintet where Kronos, playing new instruments built for them by luthier Ottar Kaasa, will be joined by Maurseth, also on Hardanger fiddle. Sun Ra’s cosmic Outer Spaceways Incorporated, arranged by Jacob Garchik, will open this program, followed by Viet Cuong’s contemplative Next Week’s Trees. The program continues with Garchik’s arrangement of Nina Simone’s imaginative take on For All We Know, Jonathan Berger’s arrangement of Ya Taali'een 'ala el-Jabal (inspired by Rim Banna) and El Din’s reflective Escalay, for which visual storyteller Ariel Aberg-Riger will join Kronos.
Sunday, April 27 (2 pm Pacific Time)
Program #3 –world premiere by Tsering Wangmo Satho and Laura Ortman (95 minutes)
Program #3 closes KRONOS FESTIVAL with two captivating premieres that will feature the composers themselves alongside Kronos. Vocalist and composer Tsering Wangmo Satho, joined by the San Francisco Girls Chorus under the direction of Valérie SainteAgathe, will present the world premiere of Satho’s new work, which explores the dynamic storytelling inherent to Tibetan opera songs. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Laura Ortman will join Kronos for the world premiere of a new version of her work, Scended Sparks. Drawing on her White Mountain Apache heritage, Ortman’s voice and words intertwine with her classical and Apache violins to evoke vivid landscapes, blending the sounds of nature with dynamic storytelling. The program also includes Nicole Lizée’s haunting and experimental Death to Kosmische, Mary Kouyoumdjian’s unflinching Bombs of Beirut—soon to be released on WITNESS, her and Kronos’ upcoming album—and Zachary James Watkins’ resonant Peace Be Till.
K.R.O.N .O.S…L.A .B.S
Saturday, April 26 (3:00 pm Pacific Time)
SPOTLIGHT: Laura Ortman
Laura Ortman discusses the newly reimagined version of Scended Sparks, premiering at Kronos Festival, and the inspirations behind her music. A fearless experimenter working with Apache violin, megaphones, field recordings, and more, Ortman continuously pushes artistic boundaries across mediums. A member of the White Mountain Apache tribe, she also founded the Coast Orchestra in 2008, an all-Native American ensemble that performed a live soundtrack to In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), the first silent feature film to star an all-Native American cast.
Saturday, April 26 (5:00 pm Pacific Time)
SPOTLIGHT: Gabriella Smith
Composer Gabriella Smith shares insights into Keep Going, her work for Kronos Quartet that weaves music with the voices of climate innovators from around the world. She will explore the inspirations behind her music—including ecosystem restoration, songbird research, and natural soundscapes—and how they shape her approach to composition and climate action. Known for her joyful, environmentally-conscious works, Smith invites listeners to engage with the climate movement through creativity, connection, and hope.
S O U N D W A L K
Ongoing
Ellen Reid’s SOUNDWALK in Golden Gate Park
SOUNDWALK is a GPS-enabled work of public art that uses music, composed by Reid and performed by Kronos, to illuminate the natural environment. SOUNDWALK is custom-tailored to its setting, and has been created to encourage a deeper connection to nature and exploration of iconic city parks while adhering to social distancing protocols. Listeners access the work via a free smartphone app, and experience a dynamic sonic landscape meticulously mapped to the
park’s landscape and attractions.
Friday, April 25 (7:30 pm Pacific Time) Program #1 – world premieres by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Soo Yeon Lyuh, and Aleksandra Vrebalov (120 minutes)
TERRY RILEY: Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace
HILDUR GUÕNADÓTTIR: Folk Faer Andlit (World premiere)
PENI CANDRA RINI (arr. Jacob Garchik & Andy McGraw): Segara Gunung: IV. Hujan
TRADITIONAL (arr. Jacob Garchik): A Shout
SOO YEON LYUH: Sumbisori (World premiere) featuring Soo Yeon Lyuh
ALEKSANDRA VREBALOV: New work (World premiere) featuring Vân-Ánh Võ
GABRIELLA SMITH: Keep Going
I Keep Going
II. Isabel
III. Water
IV. Driftwood Jam
V. What I love the most
Saturday, April 26 (3 pm Pacific Time) KRONOS LAB – SPOTLIGHT: Laura Ortman
Saturday, April 26 (5 pm Pacific Time) KRONOS LAB – SPOTLIGHT: Gabriella Smith
Saturday, April 26 (7:30 pm Pacific Time) Program #2 – West Coast premieres by Benedicte Maurseth & Kristine Tjøgersen and inti figgis-vizueta (120 minutes)
SUN RA (arr. Jacob Garchik): Outer Spaceways, Inc.
VIET CUONG: Next Week’s Trees
INTI FIGGIS-VIZUETA: clay songs (West Coast premiere)
NINA SIMONE (arr. Jacob Garchik): For All We Know
TRADITIONAL (arr. Jacob Garchik): Ya Taali'een 'ala el-Jabal (inspired by Rim Banna)
ARIEL ABERG-RIGER & HAMZA EL DIN: Swimming with Rachel Carson ---- Escalay (real. Tohru Ueda)
featuring Ariel Aberg-Riger
BENEDICTE MAURSETH & KRISTINE TJØGERSEN: ELJA (West Coast premiere) featuring Benedicte Maurseth
Sunday, April 27 (2 pm Pacific Time): Program #3 – world premiere by Tsering Wangmo Satho and Laura Ortman (95 minutes)
NICOLE LIZÉE: Death to Komische
LAURA ORTMAN: Scended Sparks (New version premiere) featuring Laura Ortman
MARY KOUYOUMDJIAN: Bombs of Beirut
ZACHARY JAMES WATKINS: Peace be Till featuring the recorded voice of Dr. Clarence B. Jones
SOO YEON LYUH: Sounds of Resilience: The Women of Divers of Jeju Island (World premiere) featuring Soo Yeon Lyuh
TSERING WANGMO SATHO (ARR. GREG SAUNIER): New work (World premiere) featuring Tsering Wangmo Satho with San Francisco Girls Chorus conducted by Valérie SainteAgathe
A B O U T...K R O N O S...Q U A R T E T
For over 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has reimagined what the string quartet experience can be. One of the most celebrated and influential groups of our era, Kronos has given thousands of concerts worldwide, released more than 70 recordings, and collaborated with many of the world’s most accomplished composers and performers across many genres. Kronos has received more than 40 awards, including three Grammys and the Polar Music, Avery Fisher, and Edison Klassiek Oeuvre Prizes.
Through its nonprofit organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), Kronos has commissioned more than 1,100 works and arrangements for quartet. KPAA also manages Kronos’ concert tours, local performances, recordings, and education programs, and produces an annual Kronos Festival in San Francisco. In its most ambitious commissioning effort to date, KPAA has recently completed Kronos Fifty for the Future. Through this initiative, Kronos has commissioned—and distributed online for free—50 new works for string quartet designed for students and emerging professionals, written by composers from around the world.
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