The University of Iowa’s Hancher will present the Kronos Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City (221 East Washington Street).
The quartet—an ensemble with which Hancher has built a longstanding relationship via multiple presentations and commissions—will perform a new multimedia work commemorating the centennial of the outbreak of World War I.
Program:
Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace by Terry Riley
Flow by Laurie Anderson; arr. Jacob Garchik
Groung by Komitas; arr. Mary Kouyoumdjian
The Beatitudes by Vladimir Martynov
Bombs of Beirut by Mary Kouyoumdjian
intermission
Beyond Zero: 1914–1918
A new work for quartet with film
Beyond Zero: 1914–1918 is a new work for quartet with film by composer Aleksandra Vrebalov and filmmaker Bill Morrison.
Vrebalov drew from many sources and inspirations as she composed the work. “While working on Beyond Zero: 1914–1918,” she has written, “I was inspired by anti-war writings, music, and art created during and immediately after World War I, including, for example, the writings of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, the music of Satie and Debussy, and the Dada movement. The piece draws from their disillusionment about heroism and patriotism, summed up in Owen’s line from Dulce et Decorum, that to die for one’s country is the old lie.”
The program will also include Bombs of Beirut, a new work by Mary Kouyoumdjian, co-commissioned by Hancher as part of the quartet’s Under 30 Project, as well as music by Terry Riley and Laurie Anderson, among others.
The Kronos Quartet is made up of David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello).
Iowa City native Drew Cameron, director of the Combat Paper Project, will be an artist in residence with Hancher in the week before Kronos' performance of Beyond Zero (see related story).
The performance by the Kronos Quartet is supported by the Hancher Partners and gifts to the Hancher Circle through the University of Iowa Foundation. The concert and residency are also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tickets, which are $37/$27 for nonstudents, $33/$24 for senior citizens, $33/$10 for college students, and $18/$10 for youth, are available from the Hancher Box Office. Any remaining tickets will be available for sale one hour before show time at the Englert Theatre.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Hancher Box Office in advance at 319-335-1158.