Kronos Quartet (USA)

Working with artists as diverse as they are revered, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has collaborated with Philip Glass, Dave Matthews Band, Nelly Furtado and Nine Inch Nails.

From the cutting edge of music both new and old, their musicianship, unique approach and experience make them the perfect acoustic trendsetters. Kronos are indefatigable in the pursuit of beautiful sound, from Dessner's moving tribute to the flight and passage of his family, through the enchanting retrofuturistic German Soundscapes of Lizée to the traditional Vietnamese world of Kim Sinh.

Two legendary forces in new music unite: iconic performance artist Laurie Anderson advances her fascinating convergence of technology, violin, visuals and voice in spellbinding accord with Kronos Quartet for shows in Perth, Adelaide.

The Adelaide Festival show sees the Kronos Quartet joined by indie rock star Bryce Dessner of The National and New Yorker JG Thirlwell’s Manorexia outfit who flesh out their experimental sounds with local luminaries Zephyr Quartet.

For the Auckland Arts Festival concert the Kronos Quartet is joined by Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man. Kronos will present two of their best-known works: Tan Dun’s other-worldly Ghost Opera, based on Chinese spirituality and ritual and employing water, stone and paper in a compelling audio-visual experience, and A Chinese Home, a rich and layered soundscape conceived by Wu Man and David Harrington and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng.

''I've always wanted the string quartet to be vital, and energetic, and alive, and cool, and not afraid to kick ass… But it has to be expressive of life. To tell the story with grace and humour and depth'' David Harrington, Kronos Quartet