Kronos Quartet Joins Big Ears Festival

BIG EARS FESTIVAL WELCOMES KRONOS QUARTET
AS 2015 ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

SPECIAL PRESALE COMING THIS WEEK

INITIAL LINEUP UNVEILED TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
PASSES ON SALE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7

The internationally acclaimed Big Ears Festival is proud to announce that the legendary Kronos Quartet – considered the most celebrated new music ensemble in the world – will serve as Artists-in-Residence for the 2015 event, taking place March 27-29 in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee.

Hailed by The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross as an “all-terrain vehicle in contemporary culture,” the Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet—David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello)— have combined rich musical experience with fearless exploration while continually reimagining the role and experience of the classical string quartet. From early music to cutting edge contemporary compositions and collaborations, from world folk music to daring interpretations of rock classics, Kronos has worked with an extraordinarily diverse range of renowned musical artists, including Steve Reich, Philip Glass, David Bowie, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Tom Waits, Astor Piazolla, Wu Man, Trent Reznor, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Café Tacuba.

At the 2015 Big Ears Festival, Kronos Quartet will weave an array of performances through the festival weekend, presenting classic contemporary works and a multi-faceted array of musical collaborations with other festival artists. Details of these programs will be announced when the initial Big Ears Festival lineup – encompassing over 50 artists from the worlds of classical, rock, folk, jazz, and beyond – is announced on Tuesday, November 4.

Kronos founder David Harrington remarks, “Big Ears is a fabulously festive celebration of creativity. Kronos is proud to make our Big Ears debut and to be artists-in-residence in 2015. We can’t wait to expand our horizons and enlarge our palette at Big Ears as we try to make Knoxville the place to be in March.”

Big Ears and AC Entertainment founder Ashley Capps concurs, “We’ve planned to present the Kronos Quartet at Big Ears from the very beginning in 2009. They completely embody the vision and inspiration that Big Ears aspires to celebrate. Their restless creative spirit has transcended all boundaries and produced a remarkable and rich body of work, and their involvement in Big Ears will be revelatory and transformative.”

A special limited allotment of Big Ears weekend passes will be released in a special pre-sale tomorrow, October 8, at 10 a.m. eastern at BigEarsFestival.com. Join the Big Ears Festival newsletter here to receive the exclusive presale code. The presale at this special low price will last as long as supplies remain OR through Sunday, October 12 at 10 p.m. eastern. The initial Big Ears Festival 2015 lineup will be unveiled on Tuesday, November 4, with passes going on sale the following Friday, November 7. Additional details about the lineup, tickets, films, installations, interactive projects, venues, and more will be revealed in the coming weeks.

All this and more information can be found at www.BigEarsFestival.com, by “liking” Big Ears Festival on Facebook, and following @BigEarsFestival on Twitter.