Arizona Arts Live, at the University of Arizona, presents the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet and composer Laura Ortman for the world premiere of GROUND, on Wednesday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. at La Rosa. The performance marks Arizona Arts Live’s fourth Kronos Quartet commission in six years.
The Kronos Quartet – David Harrington (violin), Gabriela Díaz (violin), Ayane Kozasa (viola), and Paul Wiancko (cello) – has reimagined chamber music for over 50 years. Their transformation of the string quartet has revolutionized the art form into a living response to people and issues of our time. With over 1,000 new works and arrangements, 70 recordings, three GRAMMY Awards, and thousands of performances, they continue to break down boundaries.
Commissioned by Arizona Arts Live
Commissioned by Arizona Arts Live, GROUND is a new work that draws on Indigenous musical traditions and experimental sound. Laura Ortman, White Mountain Apache musician and vocalist, composed the piece, rooted in this place. In January, Ortman and Kronos founder David Harrington spent a week in Southern Arizona recording sounds, meeting with tribal communities, students, and artists. Tucson audiences will experience GROUND before it travels to Carnegie Hall on April 25 as part of Three Bones, a new multimedia triptych celebrating Indigenous, Black American, and Chinese American voices as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary.
“What David Harrington has built over 50 years is a body of work that takes listening seriously, and GROUND is a direct expression of that. Laura and David sat with communities, recorded elders, and paid attention to voices that deserve to be heard. This quartet sounds remarkable right now. The fact that this piece begins here is something Southern Arizona should not take lightly,” said Chad Herzog, executive & artistic firector of Arizona Arts Live.
Ortman is the founder of the Coast Orchestra, an all-Native American orchestral ensemble. Versed in Apache violin, piano, electric guitar, keyboards, and amplified violin, her work draws on Indigenous musical traditions and experimental sounds.
Kronos Quartet
For over 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has reimagined what the string quartet can be. David Harrington, Gabriela Díaz, Ayane Kozasa, and Paul Wiancko have given thousands of concerts worldwide, released more than 70 recordings, and received more than 40 awards, including three Grammys. Through its nonprofit Kronos Performing Arts Association, the quartet has commissioned more than 1,100 works and arrangements, including the Fifty for the Future initiative, which commissioned and distributed 50 new works for string quartet, free of charge, for students and emerging professionals around the world.