Haruko Nishimura dances in a performance of Degenerate Art Ensemble’s “Warrior” at the Triple Door in June 2013. The piece was performed again with the Kronos Quartet in November 2013. (Photo: Bruce Tom)
On November 16, the University District’s historic Neptune Theater buzzed with energy as an excited crowd packed into the auditorium’s two tiers. Fans young and old came to help the Kronos Quartet celebrate their 40th anniversary as an ensemble. The Grammy Award-winning string quartet is renowned for their adventurous globe-trotting repertoire and support of contemporary composers. In their forty-year history, the ensemble has commissioned over 800 works. Not content to stay within the boundaries of the classical, jazz, and rock genres, Kronos has thrived on decades of exploring the world’s musical traditions, including collaborations with top artists from around the globe.
What many listeners might not know is that Kronos, based in San Francisco since 1978, was actually born in Seattle. The brainchild of a young University of Washington violinist named David Harrington, the group played its first concert in Seattle in November 1973. Three of Kronos’s original members still perform with the quartet, with Harrington and John Sherba on violins and Hank Dutt on viola. Cellist Sunny Yang joined the group in June 2013, after the departure of Jeffrey Zeigler.