February 2-4, 2017 Thurs & Fri at 7:30pm; Sat at 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 7:30pm

The San Francisco-based, Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet / Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA) is pleased to present its third annual hometown music festival, KRONOS FESTIVAL 2017: Here and Now. With six concerts over three days, the festival showcases the innovations of the Bay Area's contemporary music community. 

With Kronos taking center stage for three evening concerts, performances will feature some of the region's most engaging composers - from Minimalism pioneer Terry Riley to renowned Indian violinist Kala Ramnath - and transcendent guest musicians - from the breathtaking Persian singer Mahsa Vahdat to the ethereal sounds of traditional Vietnamese instrumentalist Van-Anh Vo. 

"This festival focuses the spotlight on Kronos' relationships with San Francisco Bay Area composers, arrangers, and musicians from many corners of the musical landscape, as well as the huge energetic promise of local students," says David Harrington, Kronos' artistic director, founder, and violinist. 

This year's festival highlights the ingenious and arresting work of Iranian-American composer Sahba Aminikia, who serves as the festival's artist-in-residence. The 35-year old composer has been writing vivid works for Kronos since 2005. His work is featured throughout the festival in collaborations with Kronos and visionary singer Mahsa Vahdat, San Francisco Girls Chorus, students from the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, The Living Earth Show, Amaranth Quartet, Delphi Trio, and Mobius Trio.

A thread woven throughout the festival is Kronos' Fifty for the Future education initiative, which is commissioning - and distributing for free - a learning library of contemporary repertoire. Ten of these 50 commissions will be performed by Kronos and, fittingly, by SOTA's Dragon String Quartet and the impressive young ensemble Thalea String Quartet, the first ever quartet in residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.