Ten years ago, the well-known Kronos Quartet in San Francisco started a project as original as it was ambitious: to have 50 composers worldwide write new music for the string quartet. 50 for the Future became the name of the project.
At the String Quartet Biennale in Amsterdam (Strijkkwartet Biënnale) on 6–7 May 2023, all newly written string quartets will be performed by ten different quartet ensembles, including Kronos. In total, it is about eight hours of music…
The Riddle by Rehnqvist
Among the fifty works is Karin Rehnqvist‘s The Riddle, which was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and premiered by them in Uppsala in the spring of 2017.
Karin will participate during the strings biennale in Amsterdam and, among other things, lead a master class.
50 composers
With 50 composers, including Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Laurie Anderson, Rhiannon Giddens, Garth Knox, Nicole Lizée, Jlin Patton, Angélique Kidjo, Aftab Darvishi, Merlijn Twaalfhoven, Missy Mazzoli and Fodé Lassana Diabaté, 50 for the Future is a revolutionary project. The fifty works have expanded the repertoire of many performing string ensembles in an exciting way.
During the string quartet biennale, Karin Rehnqvist, Fodé Lassana Diabaté (Mali), Yu Yun (Taiwan), Aleksandra Vrebalov (Serbia (USA) and Charlton Singleton (USA), among others, will present their work and participate in talks and panel discussions.
- Each piece is a real piece, a real investment in making a future in music possible, notes violinist David Harrington, Kronos Quartet.
Line-up
Kronos Quartet (US), Ragazze Quartet (NL), Attacca Quartet (US), PUBLIQuartet (US), Belinfante Quartet (NL), Signum Quartett (DE), Ruysdael Kwartet (NL), Animato Kwartet (NL), Matangi Quartet (NL) and ADAM Quartet (NL).
Here you can read about, listen to and download scores free of charge:
all compositions in 50 for the Future ›
