[attach id=239630 size="medium"]The Kronos Quartet.[/attach]
One of the world’s most influentical music ensembles, the Kronos Quartet, will be returning to Malta for this year’s Malta Arts Festival with a three-day residency for string quartets between June 30 and July 2.
The residency is a unique opportunity to work with the contemporary music ensemble who, for the past 40 years, has been committed to expanding the limits of the string quartet through a “spirit of fearless exploration”.
This year’s Malta Arts Festival is once again expected to showcase top-quality events that will be held in Valletta.
Listed by the UK Sunday Times Travel section on its Top 10 opera, dance and arts festivals taking place across Europe in 2011, the Malta Arts Festival has achieved international recognition since it first started out eight years ago. It is also a member of the European Festivals Association.
The eighth edition of the festival, which will be held between June 30 and July 14, aims to encourage local and foreign artists and performers. With a varied programme of performance, music, dance and visual arts, the festival will offer a broad range of genres and artistic forms.
Held mainly in open-air spaces, the event has also over the years opened up little-used and special venues, such as the Presidential Palace courtyard, the Old Opera House ruins and Argotti Gardens, providing an impetus for the islands to set about providing a greater diversity of art and performance spaces.
The Kronos Quartet has performed thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 45 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers.
In 2011, Kronos became the only recipients of both the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize, two of the most prestigious awards given to musicians. The group’s numerous awards also include a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and Musicians of the Year (2003) from Musical America.
Kronos’ recording and performances reveal only a fraction of the group’s commitment to new music. As a non-profit organisation based in San Francisco, the Kronos Performing Arts Association has commissioned more than 750 new works and arrangements for string quartet.
The quartet is committed to mentoring emerging professional performers. In 2007, Kronos led its first professional training workshop with four string quartets as part of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. Subsequent workshops at Carnegie Hall and other venues have expanded this aspect of the quartet’s work.
Quartets wishing to apply are requested to fill an application form (including supporting material) and to return it by April 15.
Chosen applicants will be coached by Kronos Quartet members David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello).
Application forms can be downloaded from www.maltaartsfestival.org. For more information, e-mail justin.galea@maltaculture.com.