Kronos Performing Arts Association

Kronos Performing Arts Association manages the work of the Kronos Quartet, which has been performing new and historic works for string quartets for 50 years. The quartet tours locally, nationally, and internationally and is known for commissioning new works, more than 1,000 since its inception. The organization also supports education programs with schools and universities ,and presents the annual Kronos Festival in San Francisco, a multiday celebration of new works from diverse traditions and genres. In a typical year, the organization engages more than 50,000 people through its programs. Support for Kronos Performing Arts Association advances the Performing Arts Program’s Communities strategy.

The world-renowned Kronos Quartet commissions, performs, and records contemporary music for the string quartet, introducing audiences to sounds they’ve never heard before through live concerts, audio recordings, podcasts, and collaborations with choreographers and filmmakers. The quartet will celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2013. The nonprofit organization that undergirds the quartet, Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), annually reaches more than 86,000 people throughout the world with its mix of performances, educational programs, and workshops. The Performing Arts Program renewed a general operating support grant to KPAA in March 2012, and the organization’s activities contribute to the achievement of our Continuity & Engagement goal through our Innovative Works cluster. KPAA’s board of directors recently decided that the organization will continue to exist (in perpetuity) after the quartet stops performing, which will happen when artistic director, David Harrington, retires (date unclear). To date, KPAA’s business model and international standing have been predicated on the high quality performances of the quartet. An organization that exists beyond the quartet would be a wholly different endeavor, and the board and staff want to thoughtfully consider how the organization must change in order to provide value in the international and local arts ecosystem. This multi-year Organizational Effectiveness grant would support KPAA to develop a new vision statement for an organization that could live in perpetuity, create a strategic plan to guide financially sustainable decisions and artistic excellence through the next decade, and begin to thoroughly explore new programs that can link the present organization to the future.

The world-renowned Kronos Quartet commissions, performs, and records contemporary music for the string quartet, introducing audiences to sounds they’ve never heard before through live concerts, audio recordings, podcasts, and collaborations with choreographers and filmmakers. Kronos annually reaches more than 86,000 people throughout the world with its mix of performances, educational programs, and workshops. With renewed support, Kronos plans to continue presenting new work, mentoring young composers and musicians, touring internationally and performing locally, and investing resources to digitize and archive the group’s prodigious catalog online. In addition, Kronos will celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2013, one of the few quartets in the United States with this longevity and artistic success.