What started as a business deal over coffee and doughnuts has turned into a life of musical success for David Harrington, creator of and violinist for the Kronos Quartet, a 32-year-old string quartet.
The quartet will perform at the Union Theater tonight at 8 p.m. as part of the student-funded LSU Performing Arts Series, said Michael Bellinger, director of public relations for the School of Music.
George Crumb’s 1970 recording of “Black Angels,” a sonic effect-filled musical response to the Vietnam War, inspired Harrington to start a string quartet.
“The song astonished me,” Harrington said. “I heard it and I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life then.”
In 1973, composer Ken Benshoof, friend and former teacher of Harrington, exchanged his composition “Traveling Music” to the then-penniless quartet for a bag of doughnuts and a cup of coffee, Harrington said.
Thirty-two years later, the genre-bending group of Harrington, violinist John Sherba, viola player Hank Dutt and cellist Jennifer Culp is far from penniless. Many know the quartet for its soundtrack work in films such as “21 Grams,” “Requiem for a Dream” and “Stop Making Sense,” and for its collaborations with famous musicians such as Dave Matthews and Tom Waits, Harrington said.
“Kronos is truly international world-class contemporary music,” Bellinger said.
The high-quality group is “off the beaten path,” Bellinger said, but they have received many Grammy nominations.
“We got a Grammy last year … and we’ve had around 8 or 9 nominations,” Harrington said. “We’ve been fortunate that our work has been awarded.”
The group has played more than 500 original pieces and made about 40 albums, Harrington said.
The quartet released its latest album, “Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh” in March, and another CD is nearing completion, Harrington said.
The group has used its success to further the success of others, with musical projects such as “Under 30,” an annual competition searching for the world’s best composer under 30, Harrington said.
Harrington said the group also has worked on musical projects with NASA and Willie Williams, U2’s stage designer.
“When people hear our music, they can’t believe they haven’t heard anything like that before,” Harrington said. “It gets back to stretching your mind and having the opportunity to explore things you wouldn’t normally.”
The show may be challenging for people to listen to, but it is worthwhile because Kronos is so unique, Bellinger said.
“Our music isn’t on MTV, it’s not played regularly on any radio station, but elements of it can be applied to many different people,” Harrington said. “Adventurous people find our music.”