*   Written for Kronos
** Written for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire
^†    Arranged for Kronos

In this Cal Performances at Home streaming presentation of their live December 2nd concert,  longtime Cal Performances friends and collaborators Kronos Quartet—”the most far-ranging ensemble geographically, nationally, and stylistically the world has known” (Los Angeles Times), returns with the newest edition of its visionary 50 for the Future project. With 40 compositions commissioned, premiered, and shared to date—and downloaded nearly 20,000 times by musicians in 100+ countries!—the ongoing multiyear project features new works by an international and diverse group of composers, made available online with the goal of training students and emerging professionals in contemporary approaches to string quartet music. This concert features new works by Terry Riley and Cal Performances’ 2021–22 artist-in-residence, Angélique Kidjo.

For the second half of the concert, Kronos is joined by Mahsa Vahdat, a prominent performer of Persian vocal music who collaborated with the quartet on the evocative 2019 recording Placeless. The project features melodies Vahdat composed to classical poems by Hafez and Rumi, as well as contemporary texts by Iranian poets. “[Vahdat] is an alluring, descriptive singer….The sheer seductiveness of her voice and style proved compelling” (Los Angeles Times).

An Illuminations “Place and Displacement” event.

Tickets are free for this performance, but registration is required.

Lead support for video capture and post-production of delayed streams from live performances is provided by the Koret Foundation.

Funding for video capture equipment in Zellerbach Hall is provided in part by the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Student Services and Fees (CACSSF).