Concert
A world we live in
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet has helped shape the sound of an era. Since the mid-1970s, this remarkable ensemble has forged its own unique path by crossing musical boundaries—from minimalism to popular music —elevating the art of crossover to new heights.
More than 30 years after their last performance in Strasbourg, Kronos Quartet returns with a programme of reflection on the tragedies of past and present. The evening culminates in Steve Reich’s masterpiece Different Trains, premiered by the quartet in 1988. This haunting ode to rail travel traces journeys of life, mirroring Reich’s childhood trips between divorced parents in 1940s America, and the forced transports towards death endured by countless others in Europe at the time. This work resonates with Bombs of Beirut by Mary Kouyoumdjian, a powerful testimony to the conflicts in the Middle East. These intense pieces share the stage with charged arrangements of songs by Neil Young and Nina Simone, the sonic experiments of Nicole Lizée, Terry Riley’s message of peace, and Hildur Guðnadóttir’s ode to exiles. Together, they affirm the Kronos Quartet’s relentless commitment to grounding music in the urgent issues of our time. Never conservative, the Kronos formula remains as fresh, unflinching, and vital as ever.
Trigger warning
Bombs of Beirut contains recordings of missile sounds and bomb explosions at a high volume. Audience members with conditions that may be aggravated by exposure to such sounds are advised to avoid this piece.
Program
Nicole Lizée
Death to Kosmische
(2011)
Mary Kouyoumdjian
Bombs of Beirut
(2025)
Nina Simone
For All We Know
(1959)
arr. Jacob Garchik, 2022
Terry Riley
One earth, one people, one love
(2015)
Neil Young
Ohio
(1971)
arr. Paul Wiancko, 2025
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Fólk fær andlit
(2021)
Steve Reich
Different Trains
(1988)
Cast
Kronos Quartet
violin David Harrington, Gabriela Díaz
viola Ayane Kozasa
cello Paul Wiancko
presented with Opéra national du Rhin
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