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Saturday, December 3, 2016, 8pm Zellerbach Hall David Harrington, John Sherba, violin Hank Dutt, Sunny Yang, Brian H. Scott, lighting designer Scott Fraser, sound designer Aleksandra VreBAloV (b. 1970) My Desert, My Rose* (2015) Composed for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire (b. 1956) Satellites: III. Dimensions* (2015) Composed for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire

n. rAJAm (b. 1938) Dadra in Raga Bhairavi† (arr. 2015) (arr. reena esmail)

Anna mereDItH (b. 1978) Tuggemo* (2016) (World Premiere) Composed for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire (b. 1937) no. 7* (2014)

INTERMISSION  PROGRAM

Abel meeroPol (1903–1986) Strange Fruit† (1939) (West Coast Premiere) (arr. Jacob Garchik)

mary KouYoumDJIAn (b. 1983) Silent Cranes* (2015) (Bay Area Premiere) i. slave to your voice ii. you did not answer iii. [with blood-soaked feathers] iv. you flew away

Projection Design: laurie olinder Poetry: David Barsamian, excerpts from “A Century…” lighting Design: Brian H Scott Sound Design: Brian mohr

Producer: Janet Cowperthwaite Production management: Kronos Performing Arts Association

Please note: Silent Cranes includes images from and recorded interviews with survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Some of the visual and verbal accounts of the atrocities are graphic and may be disturbing for some audience members.

* Written for Kronos † Arranged for Kronos

 PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES

Fifty for the Future Projects, other minds Festival, and In 2015, the Kronos Performing Arts Associa - tan gle wood. Her awards include the Harvard tion (KPAA) launched a new commissioning Fromm Commission, the American Academy and education initiative—Fifty for the Future: of Arts and letters Charles Ives Fellowship, The Kronos Learning Repertoire. With a group Barlow endowment Commission, mAP Fund, of adventurous partners, including Cal Per for - Vienna modern masters, meet the Composer, mances and , KPAA is com mis- and Douglas moore Fellowship. Her works sioning 50 new works—10 per year for five have been recorded for nonesuch, Innova, years—devoted to contemporary approaches to Centaur records, and Vienna modern masters. the quartet and designed expressly for the train- Vrebalov’s collaborative work with director ing of students and emerging professionals. , Beyond Zero (1914–1918), was the works will be created by an eclectic group of commissioned and premiered by Kronos at composers—25 women and 25 men. Kronos Cal Performances in April 2014 and had will premiere each piece and create companion its european premiere at the edinburgh Inter - materials, including scores and parts, record- national Festival that summer. Her string ings, videos, performance notes, and composer quartet …hold me, neighbor, in this storm… interviews, which will be distributed online for was written for and recorded by Kronos for free. Kronos’ Fifty for the Future will present the Floodplain. Her string quartet Pan - quartet music as a living art form, and provide nonia Boundless, also for Kronos, was pub- young musicians with both an indispensable li- lished by Boosey & Hawkes as part of the brary of learning and a blueprint for their own Kronos Collection, and recorded for the album future collaborations with composers. Kronos, Kronos Caravan. Cal Performances, Carnegie Hall, and an ad- Vrebalov recently finished a cycle venturous list of project partners that includes on Charles Simic’s poetry commissioned by presenters, academic institutions, foundations, ASCAP/Kingsford Fund and a sound installa- and individuals, have joined forces to support tion with architect ronit eisenbach, converting this exciting new commissioning, performance, an old bank building into a music box in education, and legacy project of unprecedented Chestertown, maryland. this year she collabo- scope and potential impact. rated with choreographer Patricia okenwa on a Aleksandra Vrebalov’s My Desert, My Rose, new piece for the rambert Dance Company. Garth Knox’s Satellites, and Anna meredith’s Tuggemo were commissioned as part of the About My Desert, My Rose, Vrebalov writes: KPAA’s Fifty for the Future: The Kronos “My Desert, My Rose consists of a series of Learning Repertoire. patterns open in length, meter, tempo, and dy- namics, different for each performer. the un- Aleksandra Vrebalov folding of the piece is almost entirely left to My Desert, My Rose each performer’s sensibility and responsiveness Aleksandra Vrebalov, a native of the former to the parts of other members of the group. Yugoslavia, left Serbia in 1995 and now lives Instinct and precision are each equally impor- in . She has written more than tant in the performance of the piece. the 60 works, ranging from concert music, to patterns are (notated as) suggested rather than opera and modern dance, to music for film. fixed musical lines, so the flow and the length of Her works have been commissioned and/or the piece are unique to each performance. the per formed by the Kronos Quartet, Carnegie lines merge and align to separate and then meet Hall, Serbian national theater, moravian Phil - again, each time in a more concrete and tighter harmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic and Provi - way. the piece ends in a metric unison, like a dence Festival Ballet. Vrebalov is a fellow of seemingly coincidental meeting of the lines macDowell Colony, rockefeller Bellagio Cen - predestined to reunite. It is like a journey of four ter, new York’s new Dramatists, American characters that start in distinctly different

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PROGRAM NOTES places, who, after long searching and occa- between the two sides of the bow (the stick and sional, brief meeting points, end up in the same the hair). the fun really starts when we begin to space, time, language. mix the dimensions, slipping from one to an- “the writing of this piece, in a form as open other, and the piece builds to a climax of spec- and as tightly coordinated at the same time, was tacular bow techniques including the ‘whip’ possible thanks to 20 years of exposure to re- and the ‘helicopter,’ producing a huge range of hearsal and performance habits of the Kronos other-worldly sounds.” Quartet, a group for which I have written 13 out of 14 of my pieces involving string quartet.” N. Rajam Dadra in Raga Bhairavi Garth Knox (arr. Reena Esmail) Satellites Indian-American composer reena esmail is a Garth Knox is one of today’s leading perform- graduate of Juilliard and the Yale School of ers of contemporary music, and his formative music, and a 2011–12 Fulbright grantee to experience as a member of ’s India. Her work draws elements from both ensemble InterContemporain—and then as Western and Hindustani (north Indian) classi- violist of the —has given him a cal music. esmail’s works have received honors comprehensive grasp of new music. Stimulated from the American Academy of Arts and by the practical experience of working on a letters and ASCAP, and have been performed personal level with composers such as Boulez, throughout the united States, in India, and ligeti, Berio, xenakis, and many others, he abroad. esmail currently resides in los Angeles. channels and expands this energy when writ- more information about her work is available ing his own music. at reenaesmail.com. Knox’s solo and ensemble pieces have been played all over the uS, europe, and Japan. He About Dadra in Raga Bhairavi, esmail writes: has received commissions from the Festival “Hindustani (north Indian) violinist n. d’Automne in Paris, Proquartet (France), Con - rajam occupies a rare and unique position in corde ensemble (Ireland), lucillin ensemble Indian music. While initially trained as a Car - (luxembourg), tokyo International Viola natic (South Indian) violinist, she later adapted Com petition (Japan), Camarata Variabile Carnatic violin technique to the performance (Switz erland), radio France, and the Kronos of Hindustani music. n. rajam plays in what is Quartet (uSA). called the gakayi ang, the singing style, having Knox’s Viola Spaces, the first phase of a multi- trained on her instrument with such vocal faceted, ongoing series of concert studies for legends as omkarnath thakur. Her melodies strings published in 2010 by Schott, combines are direct and yet subtle: they seem, at once, ground-breaking innovation in string technique guileless and ephemeral. with joyous pleasure in the act of music making, “this arrangement of n. rajam’s Dadra in and the pieces have been adopted and performed Raga Bhairavi sets her improvised violin solo by young string players all over the world. into the medium of string quartet. raga Bhai - ravi, normally rendered in the late morning “Dimensions” is the third and final movement hours, is often used throughout the day in its of Satellites, about which Knox writes: semi-classical form (as heard here) in shorter, “‘Dimensions’ deals with the many possible lighter pieces that come towards the end of a dimensions that surround us, represented by Hindustani classical performance. the metric the physical movements of the bow through cycle, Dadra, is also characteristic of a lighter space. In the first dimension, only vertical piece of music. In this arrangement, the Dadra movement is possible. In the second, only hor- taal (metric cycle) is rendered on the body of izontal movement along the string is possible. the cello, as it imitates the strokes of the tabla then only circular motion, then alternating (Hindustani percussion).”

Opposite: photo by Jay Blakesberg  PROGRAM NOTES

reena esmail’s arrangement of n. rajam’s band is touring and performing at numerous Dadra in Raga Bhairavi was commissioned for uK and eu headline shows and festivals Kronos Quartet by the David Harrington re - throughout this year, including Glastonbury, search & Development Fund. Field Day, lati tude, rewire, end of the road, Pohoda, and les nuits. Anna Meredith recent projects include collaborations with Tuggemo (World Premiere) laura marling and the Stranglers for the first Anna meredith is a composer, producer, and 6music Prom; commissions for the Aurora performer of both acoustic and electronic orchestra, Scottish ensemble, netherlands music. Her work has been performed every- Cham ber orchestra, and the living earth where from the BBC’s last night of the Proms, Show; installations for sleep-pods in Singa pore to flashmob body-percussion performances in and park benches in Hong Kong; and the world’s the m6 Services, PrADA and Fendi fashion first Concerto for Beatboxer and orchestra. campaigns, numerous films, installations, and documentaries, pop festivals, clubs, and classi- About Tuggemo, meredith writes: cal concert halls worldwide. “‘tuggemo’ is a (sadly obsolete) old english Her debut album, Varmints, was released in word for a swarm of birds or flies. I’ve tried to 2016 on moshi moshi/PIAS and has already imagine the quartet moving as a flock and attracted numerous four- and five-star reviews marking sudden glitchy changes of direction from press and media around the world in- and energy. the electronics in the track use cluding Pitchfork’s coveted citation for Best some of my favorite 1980s synth sounds and I new music. Varmints won the 2016 Scottish like this combination of something organic and Album of the Year (SAY) Award. freewheeling alongside the control and mecha- meredith is published by a new partnership nism of programmed drums and synths.” between Warp Publishing & Faber Publishing. She is also a regular television and radio guest, Philip Glass judge, and panel member on numerous pro- String Quartet No. 7 grams, including as Goldie’s mentor for the tel- Born in Baltimore, maryland, Philip Glass is a evision show Classic Goldie. graduate of the university of Chicago and the meredith has been composer-in-residence . In the early 1960s, Glass spent with the BBC Scottish Symphony orchestra, two years of intensive study in Paris with nadia rPS/PrS Composer in the House with Sinfonia Boulanger and while there, earned money by ViVA, the classical music representative for the transcribing ’s Indian music into 2009 South Bank Show Breakthrough Award, Western notation. By 1974, Glass had a num- and winner of the 2010 Paul Hamlyn Award for ber of innovative projects, creating a large Composers. collection of new music for the Philip Glass Her recent piece Connect It was written for ensemble and for the mabou mines theater the BBC’s award-winning Ten Pieces scheme, in Company. this period culminated in Music in which half of all uK primary school children Twelve Parts and the landmark opera Einstein worked on Connect It, while the composer led on the Beach, for which he collaborated with broadcasts, workshops, and performances, in- . cluding a performance at radio 2’s Proms in the Since Einstein, Glass has expanded his Park for an audience of 40,000 people. repertoire to include music for opera, dance, Her band has a line-up that includes mere - theater, chamber ensemble, orchestra, and dith on clarinet and electronics plus two cel- film. His scores have received Academy Award lists (Gemma Kost and Dan Hammersley), nominations (, The Hours, Notes on a electric guitar (Jack ross), tuba (tom Kelly), Scandal) and a Golden Globe (The Truman and drums (Sam Wilson). After a successful Show). Symphony no. 7 and Symphony no. 8, Varmints al bum launch at london’s ICA the along with Waiting for the Barbarians, an

 PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES opera based on the book by J.m. Coetzee, refused to record the song but premiered in 2005. Holiday persisted and recorded it on a specialty In the past few years several new works were label instead. the song was quickly adopted as unveiled, including Book of Longing (luminato the anthem for the anti-lynching movement. Festival) and an opera about the end of the the haunting lyrics and melody made it impos- Civil War entitled ( sible for white Americans and politicians to con- opera). His Symphony no. 9 was completed tinue to ignore the Southern campaign of racist in 2011 and premiered by the Bruckner orch - terror. (According to the Center for Consti - estra in linz, Austria, on January 1, 2012, tutional rights, between 1882 and1968, mobs and his Symphony no. 10 received its european lynched 4,743 persons in the united States, over premiere in France in 2013. teatro real madrid 70 percent of them African Americans.) and the commissioned the lyrics read, in part: “Southern trees bear Glass’ opera , about the a strange fruit,/Blood on the leaves and blood death of , which premiered in Janu - at the root,/Black bodies swinging in the south- ary 2013, and the landestheater linz premiered ern breeze,/Strange fruit hanging from the his opera Spuren de Verirrten in April of that poplar trees.” year. other projects include a song cycle for —Adapted from notes by Independent Angelique Kidjo and the Brussels Phil har monic lens for the film Strange Fruit as well as an opera based on Franz Kaf ka’s for music theatre Wales. Jacob Garchik’s arrangement of “Strange Philip Glass’ String Quartet no. 7 was Fruit” by Abel meeropol was commissioned for commissioned for the Kronos Quartet by the the Kronos Quartet by the David Harrington neder lands Dans theater for Spiritwalking, research and Development Fund. choreographed by Sol léon and Paul lightfoot. Mary Kouyoumdjian Abel Meeropol Silent Cranes (Bay Area Premiere) Strange Fruit (West Coast Premiere) mary Kouyoumdjian was selected as the recip- (arr. Jacob Garchik) ient of the fifth commission offered through the Best-known from Billie Holiday’s haunting Kronos: Under 30 Project. Begun in 2003, the 1939 rendition, the song “Strange Fruit” is a Kronos: Under 30 Project is a commissioning harrowing portrayal of the lynching of a black and residency program for composers under 30 man in the American South. While many peo- years of age, created to acknowledge the 30th ple assume that the song was written by anniversary of the founding of the Kronos Holiday herself, it actually began as a poem by Quartet. the program supports the creation of Abel meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher and new work by young artists, and helps Kronos union activist from the Bronx who later set it to cultivate stronger connections with young com- music. Disturbed by a photograph of a lynch- posers in order to develop lasting artistic rela- ing, the teacher wrote the stark verse and tionships with the next creative generation. brooding melody under the pseudonym lewis Kouyoumdjian’s work Bombs of Beirut, written Allan in the late 1930s. meeropol and his wife for the Kronos: Under 30 Project, has been per- Anne are also notable because they adopted formed in major venues throughout the united robert and michael rosenberg, the orphaned States and europe, including at the edinburgh children of the executed communists Julius International Festival. and rosenberg. Kouyoumdjian is a composer with projects “Strange Fruit” was first performed at a new ranging from concert works to multimedia col- York teachers’ union meeting and was brought laborations and film scores. As a first genera- to the attention of the manager of Cafe Society, tion Armenian-American and having come a popular Greenwich Village nightclub, who in- from a family directly affected by the lebanese troduced Billie Holiday to the writer. Holiday’s Civil War and Armenian Genocide, she uses a

 PROGRAM NOTES

sonic pallet that draws on her heritage, interest menians by the ottoman turks that was the in folk music, and background in experimen- first genocide of the 20th century. While over tal composition to progressively blend the old 20 countries and 43 uS states have formally rec- with the new. ognized the Armenian Genocide, modern-day Kouyoumdjian has received commissions turkey has yet to do so and threatens impris- from the Kronos Quartet, Carnegie Hall for onment to those who push the topic within its This Should Feel Like Home, the American borders. even now, 100 years later, this historic Composers Forum/JFund for Dzov Yerku event continues to be just as unresolved as it Kooynov [Sea of Two Colors], reDSHIFt, was before. As an Armenian-American com- the los Angeles new music ensemble, the poser who values freedom of speech and whose nouveau Classical Project, Friction Quartet, family fled the genocide, I feel this is an essen- experiments in opera, and ensemble okto - tial time to remember those who were lost, plus. She has had composer residencies with while continuing a dialogue about what hap- roulette/the Jerome Foundation, Con edison’s pened and how we can prevent further geno- exploring the metropolis, and montalvo Arts cides from happening in the future. Center. Her music has been described as “elo- “Silent Cranes is inspired by the Armenian quently scripted” and “emotionally wracking” folk song “Groung” (“Crane”), in which the by the New York Times and “utterly moving… singer calls out to the migratory bird, begging well-crafted, thoughtful, and engaging from for word from their homeland, only to have the beginning to end” by I Care if You Listen. In her crane respond with silence and fly away. the work as a composer, orchestrator, and music first, second, and fourth movement titles quote editor for film, she has collaborated on a diverse directly from the folk song lyrics. those who array of motion pictures and recently orches- were lost during the genocide are cranes in their trated on the soundtrack to The Place Beyond own way, unable to speak of the horrors that the Pines (Focus Features). Currently based in happened, and it is the responsibility of the liv- Brooklyn, new York, Kouyoumdjian also ac- ing to give them a voice. tively promotes the growth of new music in her “the prerecorded backing track includes native state of . testimonies by genocide survivors, recordings Holding a master’s degree in scoring for from the genocide era of Armenian folk , film and multimedia from new York university and a poem from investigative journalist David and a bachelor’s degree in music composition Barsamian in response to the question ‘Why is from uC San Diego, she has studied contem- it important to talk about the Armenian Geno - porary composition with Chaya Czernowin, cide 100 years later?’ Steven Kazuo takasugi, and Chinary ung; “Special thanks to those who shared their new music performance with Steven Schick; history, to those who contributed recordings, to and modern with Anthony Davis. She is laurie olinder for creating a visual narrative now working on her doctorate in composition for this project, to David Barsamian for his as a Dean’s Fellow at Columbia university. words and light, and to the Kronos Quartet and Kou youmdjian is also a co-founder and the Kronos Performing Arts Association for telling executive director of the new York-based this story that so desperately needs to be heard. con temporary music ensemble Hotel elefant, Silent Cranes is dedicated to those lost and to and co-founder of the new music Gathering, those living who can promote change.” and she teaches at the new York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers Bridge Program. Folk Songs: “Groung” (“Crane”) performed by Komitas About Silent Cranes, Kouyoumdjian writes: Vardapet/Armenak Shah muradian and “An - “April 24, 2015 marked the centennial of the dou ni” (“Homeless”) performed by Komitas Armenian Genocide, a tragic event that led Vardapet in Paris, France, 1912 (courtesy of to the mass extermination of 1.5 million Ar - traditional Crossroads); “Groung” (“Crane”)

 PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES performed by Zabelle Panosian in Harlem, new one of America’s most tireless and wide-rang- York, 1916 (courtesy of tompkins Square). ing investigative journalists, David Barsamian has altered the independent media landscape, Survivor Testimonies: both with his weekly radio show Alternative Araxie Barsamian, Bishop Hagop, Victoria mel - Radio and his books with noam Chomsky, lian (courtesy of David Barsamian); Haig Baro - eqbal Ahmad, Howard Zinn, tariq Ali, richard nian, Aghavnie Der Sarkissian, elise Hago pian Wolff, Arundhati roy, and edward Said. His taft, nium Sukkar (courtesy of the Arme nian latest book of interviews with noam Chomsky Film Foundation); Azniv Guira gossian (inter - is Power Systems: Conversations on Global viewed by taleen Babayan and the composer) Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire. His bestselling books with Chom - Laurie Olinder is a multimedia designer, sky have been translated into many languages. painter, and photographer. She is a founding He lectures on world affairs, imperialism, the member of new York’s ridge theater and has state of journalism, censorship, the economic been recognized with an oBIe Award, a new crisis, and global rebellions. York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award, Barsamian is winner of the media education and an eliot norton Award for outstanding Award, the AClu’s upton Sinclair Award for Design in the theater. olinder has designed independent journalism, and the Cultural Free - projections for numerous contemporary com- dom Fellowship from the lannan Foun dation. posers and performers, including , the Institute for Alternative Journalism named Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Brooklyn Philhar - him one of its top ten media Heroes. He is the monic, , , Philip recipient of the lifetime Achievement Award Glass, michael Gordon, Henryk Górecki, Kro - from the rocky mountain Peace and Justice nos Quartet, , and . Her Center. As Arundhati roy wrote for The Guar - work has been shown at noted performance dian, Barsamian was deported from India in venues such as American repertory thea tre, 2011 due to his work on Kashmir and other Brooklyn Academy of music, Carnegie Hall, revolts. He is still barred from traveling to “the lincoln Center, and mASS moCA. world’s largest democracy.”

continued on page 35 BerkeleyRADICAL IMMERSION, INNOVATION, AND INCLUSION is performance by Kronos Quartet is part of the 2016/17 Berkeley rADICAl Inclusion strand that spans multiple genres from September 2016 – February 2017. Inclusion performances and activities seek to explore how universal themes can arise from diverse, culturally specific artists or ensembles, and how artists use the idea of inclusion in their creative process. regardless of cultural backgrounds, audiences can see themselves in such works because the artists intentionally aim for inclusion. Cal Performances’ next Inclusion program takes place on February 12, when Australia’s Black Arm Band places the Aboriginal struggle at the center of its musical theater work Dirtsong. And then, returning to Cal Performances on February 18, e Nile Project draws on a rich mix of musical communities gatherered around a shared, precious resource: water. For complete details of all performances and related activities, please visit calperformances.org.

 Silent Cranes Translations from Armenian by Taleen Babayan Elise: the turkish soldiers told us that it was for our safety to move us. Why i. slave to your voice we were so far away from the russian border? I was very excited, because I had never had a train ride ii. you did not answer before. By the time we got to Balikesir, I had enough of it. the Victoria: my name is Victoria mellian. I’m people were separated into two born 1901, February 8. I’m born in groups. one, some families had to the city of Antioch. It’s a part of go to Damascus, and the others turkey. that’s the city where they went to Der Zor. accepted Christianity. 1909, being Nium: All those people were taken further Christian, we were massacred in out into the desert, and what hap- one night in the month of lent. my pened to them from there seemed father had gone to church. When like everybody knew that they were he came home, my cousin said, dead. they were all killed. there “uncle, they’re going to kill us.” He were no survivors that I knew of. said “We didn’t do no harm to no- Araxie: We deported in some city. body.” meantime, they broke the Barefoot, nothing to eat. they took door, and they jumped on my fa- everything from us. they say, ther. they killed him. they shot “We’ll put in a church. When you my father, but my uncle was knifed come back, we’ll give you back”— to death. everything was broken which is not true. So we went to down. they took everything. some city. my aunt gave birth. She they ransacked the house. they left her baby over there, and then broke down the window. In one we walked, walked, walked. no night, I lost between 15 and 20 water. my mother used her hand- immediate family. kerchief and, excuse me, horse Hagop: In 1915, we didn’t know the nature urine and wiped our mouths. We of the war. We saw Fedayagan were so dry. groups, they said there was a fight Victoria: So my brother was four years old. and we all have to escape. As soon as my grandmother saw Azniv: They came and held my dad and the turks coming, she took my asked him where he was from. brother under her skirt, and the He said “Ourfa.” My father turk said “Gawer, you have an wasn’t afraid. Armenian under you.” She raised Haig: All the notable and able-bodied her hand and said, “Honest to God, men, they were arresting them, there’s nobody,” and they cut her putting them in prison—prior to finger with the sword. the woman getting the people out on deporta- was bleeding. tion or what I call “death marches.” Azniv: I was born in ‘14. I had a very beau- tiful mother. I lost my mother young. She was beautiful. They killed her. That’s why I am in pain. That beau- tiful woman, they killed her.

 PLAYBILL iii. [with blood-soaked feathers] tragedy, you almost become shell- shocked, you become numb. Day Elise: We were at the top of the moun- after day, day after day, the same tain. nobody was talking. they thing is being repeated. were all silent. Dead bodies all Aghavnie: The two children hid from their fear around us. they won’t let us bury when the Turks entered. They saw our dear ones. I saw with my eyes a them beating me, and they yelled pregnant woman among us, and “Morak Aghavni!” The Turk took because she was lagging, you know. and cut his head off because the the turkish soldiers put the sword child loved me so much and he on her stomach, and the baby came didn’t want the Turks to see me hurt. out of her, and the mother died They cut off his head so he would there too, right there. nobody was stop yelling. I took his head and there to bury her. wanted to glue it but what was the Nium: When we went back to the desert, point because he was already dead. all we see is bodies lying on the My sister is crying, all my relatives ground. no shade, no blankets. are crying and the child is in the nothing but sand all around there. middle of a room like a chicken, his People like they were dead or head on one side and his body on something, they couldn’t even another. move. Some of them didn’t even Haig: later we learned from the stories feel like human beings. they’re the solders came and told to the crying out for food, for water, for people, how they took them to water, food. nobody could help Kamach, a spot [by the] euphrates them. We’d walk around and it’s river which is very treacherous, just the same thing. mothers are and dumped them there because holding their babies to their breast, they weren’t going to waste their they couldn’t feed them. It’s a bullets. the turkish government tragic thing of what we saw. evidently realized that these chil- It was sickening. dren were going to grow up and re- Araxie: they took all the men in a field, member everything that happened they tied their hands and they to their parents and their families. shoot them—killed them. every So, they decided to kill and not save one of them. I remember they col- the children. And to spare their lected only 15 year old boys, just bullets, they were taking them to like this they were sitting, their the euphrates river and drowning hands were tied back, and they them. As you proceeded day after took in a field, and they shoot them day this march, you see bodies con- too. nothing left. only women and stantly. Sometimes it was horrible small children. because they would evidently rob, Haig: Seeing so much tragedy every evidently the villagers, turkish vil- day—women jumping in the water lagers, Kurds, would come and rob to drown themselves because they their clothes and so forth, so that don’t want to be dishonored, people they were almost half naked under being killed left and right, and bod- the sun. In a few days the bodies ies here and there—so much swell up, and it was horrible be-

 cause of the stench and the horrible home. the Armenians had gone site were just absolutely excruciat- through this experience of deporta- ing. We could see bodies sprawled tion and killing and so on, so everywhere. It was a common there were a lot of empty houses sight. everywhere we were passing they had made into a prison. So by, there were bodies. my gosh, there I met my sister, and there sometimes I would see 6, 7 of them were a close to about 100 children. sprawled along the road. turkish the very next day, they lined us up. young arms for their pleasure they were going to take us to the would come and pick up the good- euphrates river. looking girls and take them Victoria: my aunt, they were after her, but screaming away for their pleasure her honor wouldn’t let her. She of the night. my grandmother was threw herself in the Asi river, that’s complaining to the turkish sol- the biggest river that Antioch has. diers, “Why are you subjecting the She drowned herself, not to give in children to such suffering? What to the turks. I still remember. they have they done?” this young arm shot him, he didn’t die, but when in his anger that “You dare to as they poured kerosene over him— much as complain against the he was a big fella, I knew him— turkish government”—he pulled they poured kerosene over him. his dagger and right on her back, they killed him. oh the blood was he began thrusting the dagger into running, like a river. Here I am, my her back. Just like a pincushion, he God, I have no father, no mother, kept doing this several times. each no brother, my oldest brothers— time my grandmother, this wiry lit- they all are dead. It was a surprise. tle lady, she just kept cursing the my father said “Daughter,” he said, turkish government: “Curse on “Why should they kill us? We lived you and your government that you always in harmony. We visited each subject the children to such suffer- other. You always played with ing.” And the more she cursed the them, with the children.” All of a government and so on, the more he sudden over night… to this day I kept stabbing her. And then he was cannot understand why they did exasperated because she wouldn’t that. Why? We lived in harmony. If die fast enough to suit him. A it was not an order from the high turkish sergeant took of the officers, they wouldn’t do that. turkish army grabbed me by the there was somebody behind that. hand and pulled it away from my Elise: I saw with my own eyes, a poor mother and took me away. Weeks neighbor of ours from Bandirma. later, evidently the turkish govern- She couldn’t walk anymore, and ment had changed their mind, and they took hold of her and threw her a proclamation came around that into the burning fire. We had to they should not save the Armenian walk on continually. children. So they came, a police- man, turkish police, knocked the door and took me away. they took me away to a vacant Armenian

 PLAYBILL Araxie: my grandmother, they took her stars. He said, “Do you see the Der Zor. they killed so many brightest one in the middle?” and Armenians over there. most he said, “You are the brightest star Armenians they killed in Der Zor. of them all.” I couldn’t imagine When we left, my family was 25 in what he was saying, because I said the family. they took all the men “under those circumstances, how folks, they asked my father, could a father wish such a thing “Where’s your ammunition.” about his little girl?” now every He says, “I sold it.” So he says, “Go time I see those stars, I think of get it.” So when he went into a town that night. to get it, they beat him and they took all his clothes, and when he came back (this is my mother tells iv. you flew away me this story), when he came back, he went in a jail, they cut his arms. Azniv: Armenians are important people. “Where’s your ammunition.” He Our name is big. said, “I haven’t got it, they didn’t David: A century is a long time. give it to me.” So he died in jail. It is and it isn’t. Government says “take him to the lost child of Bitlis cries out: Dicle. and throw all these ladies in Mayrig, mayrig, Oor es? Mina gem. Dicle. tigris river. So, I remember Ge vakhnam. very well, it was a moon, and then Araxie: my mother covered me with a jandarma came.. police came he blanket. they took all the good says “Government has forgiven looking ladies, young ladies and them. take them to a different city.” girls, they captured them. my And we walked and night and mother put my three young broth- night and night, and we came to a ers on top of me so they wouldn’t city that they were very well turk. see me. I had a girlfriend. She had they were very well. Also my aunt hair long as here, and Gendarme saved me into the blanket so they came. they grabbed her with the would not capture me. And they hair and threw her on back of gave us bread that was made from the horse. the hay. But we got to eat because David: mother, mother. Where are you? we were hungry. I am alone and afraid. Azniv: Don’t remind me. Those were such important people. The Tajik’s kid- those who control the present, napped me. control the past and those who Victoria: I was young, but I still remember. control the past control the future. Elise: We were in the outskirts of —orwell Damascus. In Syria, it hadn’t snowed for 40 years, and it was those who do not remember the snowing that night. I had to go out, past are condemned to repeat it. and I saw my father’s.. of —Santayana his cigarette in the dark, and he was meditating. He took me out, and then, he showed me a group of

 “the struggle of humankind David: Yergeer. A magical place full of against power is the struggle of wonder and cruelties. memory against forgetting.” Turkey: A crime scene. no more enver and talaat statues and streets. no more the assassination of Allende pretending it didn’t happen. no quickly covered over the memory more macho posturing. liberate of the russian Invasion of yourselves from twisted and toxic Czechoslovakia, the bloody mas- nationalist narratives. sacre in Bangladesh caused Allende Ambassador Morgenthau: Where are the to be forgotten, the din of war in Armenians heading? the Sinai desert drowned out the Talaat: their destination is the abyss. groans of Bangladesh, the mas- We, the keepers of memories and sacres in Cambodia caused the dreams keep coming up like weeds Sinai to be forgotten, and so on, to remind you and ourselves of the and on and on, until everyone has past. A faded but dear landscape completely forgotten everything. drenched in blood. the burning of —Kundera books and churches. We live in their ashes and beyond them. Victoria: they took all the dead people. Against the ruin of the world? they dug a big hole in the middle there is only one defense: the cre- of the city. they dumped all the ative act. rexroth dead bodies to cover them. let us play again in our gardens and fields and glory in the beauty of the flowers forever. David: “Who speaks today of the annihila- A century is a long time. tion of the Armenians?” It is and it isn’t. —Hitler Why do I feel it is important to talk about the Armenian Genocide Haig: especially, seeing the body laying 100 years later? there, and here the young arms are It’s important to complete the pushing us to keep on going. You poems and eat the last pieces see your dear ones laying there of lavash and bastegh. our grand- along the way. parents are singing, let’s finish David: Yergeer. Homeland. Water so their songs. clean, air so pure, fruits and vegeta- bles so tasty. So survivors of the genocide told me maybe with some exaggeration. Elise: So I went with my father to look for some drinking water. And we went out of our tent. there were all these dead bodies in the mud. Some of them were living their last minutes. others had bloated bodies. So that was the place that was called Qatar.

 PLAYBILL ABOUT THE ARTISTS mary Kouyoumdjian’s Silent Cranes was com- Gubaidulina, Bryce Dessner, Aleksandra Vreb - missioned for the Kronos Quartet with support a lov), jazz legends (ornette Coleman, maria from the David Harrington research and De - Schneider, ), rock artists (gui- vel opment Fund, the Angel Stoyanof Com - tar legend , Brazilian electronica mission Fund, Zvart and rouben Potoukian, artist , and Icelandic indie-rock Andrea A. lunsford, Gates mcFadden and group Sigur rós), and artists who truly defy robert Straus, Dayna Sumiyoshi and Greg genre (performance artist , Smedsrud, many funders in the Indiegogo com- composer/sound sculptor/inventor trimpin, munity, and other generous individuals. Silent and singer-/poet ). Cranes was premiered by the Kronos Quartet Integral to Kronos’ work is a series of long- at the Yerevan Perspectives 16th International running, in-depth collaborations with many music Festival in the Armenian national Aca - of the world’s foremost composers. one of the demic theatre of opera and Ballet in Yerevan, quartet’s most frequent composer-collaborators Armenia, on April 29, 2015. is “Father of minimalism” , whose work with Kronos includes Salome Dances for Kronos Quartet Peace (1985–86); Sun Rings (2002), a multime- For more than 40 years, the Kronos Quartet— dia, nASA-commissioned ode to the earth and David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), its people, featuring celestial sounds and images Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello)—has from space (performed here at Cal Perfor - pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a mances earlier this year); and The Serquent spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment Risadome, premiered during Kronos’ 40th Anni - to continually re-imagining the string quartet versary Celebration at Carnegie Hall in 2014. experience. In the process, Kronos has become Kronos commissioned and recorded the three one of the most celebrated and influential string quartets of Polish composer Hen ryk groups of our time, performing thousands of Górecki, with whom the group worked for concerts worldwide, releasing more than 50 more than 25 years. the quartet has also col- recordings of extraordinary breadth and cre- laborated extensively with composers such as ativity, collaborating with many of the world’s Philip Glass, recording a CD of his string quar- most intriguing and accomplished composers tets in 1995 and premiering String Quartet and performers, and commissioning more than no. 6 in 2013, among other projects; Azerbai - 850 works and arrange ments for string quartet. jan’s Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, whose works are fea- In 2011, Kronos became the only recipient of tured on the full-length 2005 release Mugam both the and the Avery Fisher Sayagi; , from Kronos’ performance Prize, two of the most prestigious awards given of the Grammy-winning composition Different to musicians. the group’s numerous awards Trains (1989) to the September 11-themed also include a Grammy for Best Chamber mu - WTC 9/11 (2011); and many more. sic Performance (2004) and “musicians of the In addition to composers, Kronos counts nu- Year” (2003) from musical America. merous performers from around the world Kronos’ adventurous approach dates back to among its collaborators, including the Chinese the ensemble’s origins. In 1973, David Harring - pipa virtuoso ; Azeri master vocalist ton was inspired to form Kronos after hearing ; legendary Bollywood “playback ’s Black Angels, a highly un- singer” , featured on Kronos’ orthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work featur- 2005 Grammy-nominated CD You’ve Stolen My ing bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman’s Bollywood; and electronic effects. Kronos then began build- Inuit throat singer tanya tagaq; indie rock ing a compellingly diverse repertoire for string band the national; mexican rockers Café quartet, performing and recording works tacvba; sound artist and instrument builder by 20th-century masters (Bartók, Webern, Walter Kitundu; and the romanian gypsy band Schnittke), contemporary composers (Sophia taraf de Haïdouks. Kronos has performed live

 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

with the likes of Paul mcCartney, Allen Gins - up shaw. other more recent releases include berg, Jarvis Cocker, Zakir Hussain, the modern Rain bow (, 2010), in col- Jazz Quartet, noam Chomsky, rokia traoré, la boration with musicians from Afghanistan , , Howard Zinn, and Azerbaijan; and Aheym: Kronos Quartet Betty Carter, and , and has ap- Plays Music by Bryce Dessner (Anti-, 2013). In peared on recordings by artists such as nine celebration of the quartet’s 40th anniversary Inch nails, Dan Zanes, Glenn Kotche, Dave season in 2014, nonesuch released both Kronos matthews, , , Explorer Series, a five-CD retrospective boxed and Don Walser. In dance, the famed choreog- set, and the single-disc A Thousand Thoughts, raphers merce Cunningham, Paul taylor, twyla featuring mostly unreleased recordings from tharp, eiko & Koma, and Paul lightfoot and throughout Kronos’ career. the year 2015 Sol león (nederlands Dans theater) have cre- brought the release of Tundra Songs by Derek ated pieces with Kronos’ music. Charke as well as a boxed set of terry riley’s Kronos’ work has also featured prominently music written for and performed by Kronos in in a number of films, including two recent celebration of the composer’s 80th birthday. Academy Award-nominated documentaries: music publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Kronos the AIDS-themed How to Survive a Plague have released two editions of Kronos Collection (2012) and Dirty Wars (2013), an exposé of sheet music: Volume 1 (2006), featuring three covert warfare for which Kronos’ David Har - Kronos-commissioned works; and Volume 2 ring ton served as music supervisor. Kronos (2014), featuring six Kronos-commissioned also performed scores by Philip Glass for the arrangements by composer . films Mishima and Dracula (a 1999 restored In addition to its role as a performing and edition of the 1931 tod Browning–Bela lugosi recording ensemble, the quartet is committed classic) and by for the Darren to mentoring emerging performers and com- Aronofsky films Noah (2014), posers and has led workshops, master classes, (2006), and (2000). and other education programs via the San Fran - Additional films featuring Kronos’ music cisco Conservatory of music, the California include The Great Beauty (2013), Heat (1995), State Summer School for the Arts, Carnegie and True Stories (1986). Hall’s Weill music Institute, and other institu- the quartet spends five months of each year tions in the uS and overseas. Kronos has recently on tour, appearing in concert halls, clubs, and undertaken extended educational resi den cies festivals around the world including Carnegie at Cal Performances, the Clarice at the univer - Hall, lincoln Center out of Doors, Big ears, sity of maryland, and with the Kaufman music BAm next Wave Festival, Chicago’s Harris Center’s Face the music. theater, Disney Hall, Palacio de Bellas Artes With a staff of 11 based in San Francisco, the in mexico City, the Barbican Centre in london, nonprofit Kronos Performing Arts Association WomAD, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Shang - manages all aspects of Kronos’ work, including hai Concert Hall, and Sydney opera House. the commissioning of new works, concert tours Kronos is equally prolific and wide-ranging on and local performances, education programs, recordings. the ensemble’s expansive discogra- and more. KPAA’s Kronos: Under 30 Project, a phy on includes collections unique commissioning and residency program like Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of for composers under age 30, has now added five African-born composers, which simultaneously new works to the Kronos repertoire. KronoS topped Billboard’s Classical and World music PreSentS is a new presenting program show- lists; 1998’s 10-disc anthology, Kronos Quartet: casing Kronos’ commissioned works, artistic 25 Years; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- and latin projects, and far-ranging musical collaborations Grammy-nominated celebration of mexican through an annual festival, education and com- culture; and the 2004 Grammy-winner, Alban munity activities, and other events in the Bay Berg’s , featuring Dawn Area and beyond.

 PLAYBILL ABOUT THE ARTISTS

For the Kronos Quartet/ Contact: Kronos Performing Arts Association Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Janet Cowperthwaite, managing director Association Sidney Chen, artistic administrator Po Box 225340 mason Dille, development manager San Francisco, CA 94122-5340 Sarah Donahue, production and tour associate lauren Frankel, development associate kronosquartet.org Scott Fraser, sound designer facebook.com/kronosquartet Sasha Hnatkovich, communications manager instagram.com/kronos_quartet Gregory t. Kuhn, production and artistic twitter: @kronosquartet #kronos services director reshena liao, communications and the Kronos Quartet records for nonesuch marketing associate records. nikolás mcConnie-Saad, office manager Kären nagy, strategic initiatives director lucinda toy, business operations manager

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