Kronos Quartet, a staple of the San Francisco music scene since 1978, is returning to Rancho Nicasio on Sunday, July 24 for the venue’s BBQ on the Lawn series. The night promises to be clement, with plentiful brews flowing freely and eclectic music emanating from the Kronos Quartet’s strings.

Kronos Quartet is decidedly not the traditional string quartet experience. Those concerned about a sleepy performance featuring snoring seatmates need not worry. Not only is Rancho Nicasio a lively and refreshing outdoor venue; the group is known for taking audiences along for an often unexpected, always exciting, classical thrill ride. According to its website, the quartet exists “to create, perform and promote music from a global perspective that responds to the world we share and expand the understanding of music’s role as a powerful force in society.”

Think of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” which for those unfamiliar features live cannon fire, chimes and brass fanfare, for a general sense—minus the cannons—of Kronos’ adventurous, explorative and invigorating productions. This musical institution, including a nonprofit branch dedicated to developing the musical capacities of future generation artists and listeners, honors the profundity of music that only music can convey.

Kronos Quartet was first founded in 1973 in Seattle, WA, by violinist David Harrington and moved to its now home of San Francisco in 1978. Made up of four members, the quartet currently consists of Harrington on violin, John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola and Sunny Yang—the newest member—on cello.

The group has performed worldwide, recorded over 40 albums and is considered by many to be the most famous contemporary classical music group in the world. Their repertoire is expansive, with over 1,000 pieces commissioned over their nearly 50 years of performing. The group plays a strikingly diverse range of music, from work by minimalist composers such as John Adams, Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass, to pieces composed for them by Frank Zappa, to adaptations of works by Prince and Sigur Ros.

Kronos Quartet has performed alongside Allen Ginsberg, Björk, the National, Tom Waits and David Bowie. They have received over 40 musical awards, including two Grammy awards, the Polar Music Prize, the 2018 WOMEX Artist Award, and the Rolf Schock Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize, among others. They are constantly revolutionizing the quartet music experience and pushing the boundaries of classical music. The quartet tours five months of each year, appearing in the world’s most prestigious music venues,

The Kronos Performing Arts Association gives back to the music community in myriad ways, both in the Bay Area and internationally. Photo by Lenny Gonzalez.

Says founder Harrington of the group’s ethos, “I’ve always wanted the string quartet to be vital, and energetic, and alive, and cool, and not afraid to kick ass and be absolutely beautiful and ugly if it has to be. But it has to be expressive of life. To tell the story with grace and humor and depth. And to tell the whole story, if possible.”

Along with their illustrious and lengthy career transforming the landscape of classical music, their nonprofit arm, the Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), has also built and sustained programs for mentoring emerging musicians and composers, both in the United States and abroad.

“There are certain experiences in life that set the bar higher,” says Harrington. “One of them for me was when in 1974 Rostislav Dubinsky, the Borodin Quartet’s first violinist, spent three hours going over with me every question I had about Shostakovich’s 8th Quartet. This lesson set the bar for me as to what an elder musician ought to do for a younger musician. Each member of Kronos has received this kind of generous guidance from many people over the years. We have been given a wealth of spirit and knowledge that we hope to share.”

In 2015, Kronos Quartet and KPAA, which manages all aspects of the Kronos Quartet, launched 50 For the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire. This project is commissioning and freely distributing 50 new works for string quartets, designed specifically to educate and train new to mid-career string musicians and quartets. These commissioned pieces of music play many roles, including being used as remixable samples in KPAA’s collaboration with Sunset Youth Services, which supports young music producers, engineers and hip-hop artists. These remixes will be released by Sunset Youth Services’ in-house record label, Upstar Records.

Their ongoing dedication to keeping the history of classical music alive, contemporary and valuable to the community has made Kronos Quartet a musical institution and a gem in the crown of the Bay Area arts scene.

Check out Kronos Quartet this Sunday, July 24 at Rancho Nicasio, playing a set including works by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Mazz Swift, Peni Candra Rini, Philip Glass and Michael Gordon.

For information and tickets to BBQ on the Lawn, visit www.ranchonicasio.com. More information about the quartet can be found at www.kronosquartet.org.

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This issue of the San Francisco Bay Times introduces two legends of women’s music: Melanie DeMore (see pages 10–11) and Barbara Higbie. Women’s music – which emerged during the second wave of the feminist movement and the workers’, civil rights and peace movements – is music by, for and about women. DeMore and Higbie shine in this and other genres and work skillfully with many artists. The San Francisco Chronicle even referred to Higbie as the “High Priestess of Collaboration” as she worked with Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, jazz greats, classical stars and many others, to name them here. The Grammy-nominated, Bammy-award-winning productive pianist, composer, violinist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has played on well over 100 CDs!

Born in Michigan and raised in Indiana, Higbie spent several years with her family in Ghana as a teenager. She worked one summer in Honduras as a medical volunteer with the non-profit organization Amigos de Las Americas, completed Phi Beta Kappa at Mills College here in the Bay Area, attended the Sorbonne in Paris and received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for collecting traditional music in West africa.

In Paris she met the jazz artist Darol Anger and began a fruitful musical collaboration. In 1984 she was co-director of a group live album recording at the Montreux Jazz Festival, which then became the successful group “Montreux” with Anger, Mike Marshall, Todd Phillips, Andy Narrell and Michael Manring.

She was the first female instrumentalist to sign with Windham Hill Records and also recorded solo and duo projects for Olivia / Second Wave Records and Slowbaby Records. As a folk, jazz, pop and fusion composer and singer-songwriter known for her highly melodic jazz / folk performances, she has toured nationally and internationally since the early 1980s. While the pandemic stopped such trips for her and other artists, she will soon celebrate her return to live performances with the 35th anniversary of Windham Hill’s Winter Solstice album series. The wonderful song collections are so timeless that, like Vince Guaraldi’s work for the Peanuts Christmas specials, they never seem to lose their impact and relevance.

Higbie spoke to the San Francisco Bay Times ahead of her national anniversary tour. There will be a stop at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on Friday, December 17th. Todd Boston, Mia Pixley, and other artists will also appear on the shows.

San Francisco Bay Times: How was it for you to get out of the COVID-19 shutdowns and not only prepare for a national tour but also go to shows by other artists?

Barbara Higbie: It’s great to be back on stage and share our love for music with the audience. This will be a cross-generational, multicultural festival. These venues (on the new tour) all respect secure protocols. Everyone is pissed off and the HVAC filter systems keep fresh air circulating on a regular basis.

COVID has hit musicians hard. Our livelihoods went “Phew!” Making online shows was fine, if far from reality. It was relaxing being away from the street, but it was long enough. I am so ready to get out again! This tour begins in the Midwest, then goes to the Northwest, the Southwest, and then to California. I can barely wait for it!

The concerts at Windham Hill are perfect for getting back into the swimming pool. Since we are all locked in our homes it is a treat to see live shows. It’s emotional. Get ready – put on real pants! Standing in line, then being part of a spontaneous, non-choreographed and interactive event as an audience. It’s exciting and emotional.

San Francisco Bay Times: Who are you working with now on the new tour?

Barbara Higbie: I’m so looking forward to this tour! First of all, it will be the first live concerts in almost two years! Second, Mia Pixley (cello / vocals) and Todd Boston (guitar) together with our special guests Jasper Manning and VOENA (multicultural youth choir) are simply phenomenal young talents. I am totally overwhelmed with her talent.

Third, we’ve been rehearsing for months, first through Zoom and now in person. Mia, Todd and I each released brand new studio albums. With all of the new material and preparation, I can’t wait to get out the starting gate and hit the streets. It feels like spring is awakening after a harsh winter – there is a lot of new, exuberant energy in the air!

San Francisco Bay Times: Please let us know about the upcoming Windham Hill Winter Solstice Shows.

Barbara Higbie: The Winter Solstice show is inspired by the 8 million sold Windham Hill Winter Solstice album series that began in 1985. The concept of celebrating all seasonal holidays by recording acoustic music with high fidelity was groundbreaking. The albums have been the backdrop for millions of folk festivals for 35 years. We flew in entire families from Australia to see our shows. It is truly an intergenerational, multicultural, longstanding phenomenon that we are honored to be a part of.

Todd Boston plays acoustic guitar, inspired by Michael Hedges, Will Ackerman, Alex DeGrassi and all the great guitarists who recorded for the label (Windham Hill). In addition, he has a strong kirtan and Indian music background. Mia is a beautiful singer-songwriter-cellist, comparable to Zoe Keating, whose career is just exploding. I am a pianist, composer, singer-songwriter and championship violinist and the first female instrumentalist to sign with the Windham Hill label in 1981 at the age of 23. At the time, Windham Hill was a startup in a garage in Palo Alto, like some other companies that took off. Steve Jobs was a huge Windham Hill fan. The great success of George Winston made Windham Hill a household name.

San Francisco Bay Times: You are also known for your involvement in women’s music. Please give us some thoughts on this, both in relation to your past and current work.

Barbara Higbie: In 1983, at the height of the Windham Hill craze, I was fortunate enough to make music with Teresa Trull, Cris Williamson, Linda Tillery, Meg Christian and Holly Near. Teresa and I recorded for Olivia Records in 1983 and became a national sensation. We were, so to speak, the pre-“Indigo Girls”. We toured with the great Cris Williamson, who is giving two album release concerts at Freight in Berkeley on January 14th and 15th. She calls these shows “the big reunion” because they feature Vicki Randle, Skip the Needle, Julie Wolf and many more. Cris and Teresa are two of my very best friends. They are both geniuses. Teresa is now a horse trainer in New Zealand. She and her kiwi lover Michaela recently got married.

We will all be on the Olivia 50th Anniversary cruises in January 2023, and many of us will be at the Olivia 50th Anniversary event at the Academy in Castro on January 13th.

Women’s music saved my life, like so many women. In the early 1980s, I experienced stalking, bullying, and severe harassment in the very male-dominated music industry. Without the support of the women’s community, I would probably have resigned. It’s easy to take for granted what the pioneers of women’s music did. I can attest that you have moved mountains and deserve our deepest respect. So the Smithsonian is now documenting the whole movement. It’s a strong, loving community that is still thriving.

San Francisco Bay Times: The Freight and Salvage has always been important to you beyond your work as an artist. What do you have in common with the venue now?

Barbara Higbie: Speaking of community, the Freight is the center of a huge community of musicians. It’s a phenomenal place: a 53-year-old non-profit that owns its own building and raises funds to continue to showcase various music artists from around the world. If you’ve never been there do yourself a favor and go to Freight! I am currently the co-chair of the board, along with the conductor and community activist Elizabeth Seja Min.

I believe in the importance of cargo to my core. Thanks to loyal donors and government grants, it survived COVID. Visiting shows is the best way to ensure that places like the Freight stay in business. It is a real cultural treasure that has exceeded all expectations. I want people to know that they can be sure that all of these venues are compliant with COVID protocols. We’re getting back to live music in a safe way.

For tickets and more information on the 35th anniversary of the Winter Solstice in Windham Hill with Freight and Recovery on December 17th, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/4ax5uhu2

To learn more about Barbara Higbie and to purchase her recordings, visit https://barbarahigbie.com/

Published on December 2, 2021

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LENOX, Massachusetts – A curator who specializes in historical decoration, Lisa Singleton Boudiette, will present her talk on “Colfax & Fowler, Legendary Designers of the English Country House Style.”

She will make her visual presentation on Zoom, offered by the Ventfort Hall Mansion & Gilded Age Museum on Friday March 12th at 11:00 AM as part of the Morning Diversions series.

According to a press release, three key personalities were the first to shape the history of Colfax & Fowler and the direction the company took. John Fowler was a self-taught decorator fascinated by 18th century architecture and styles who began his career in the early 1930s. He joined Sibyl Colfax in 1938, whose business was in Mayfair, London. Nancy Lancaster was an aristocratic Virginian with important international social connections who became Fowler’s partner when she bought Lady Colfax’s company in 1944.

The English country house style emerged after the Second World War, in a world that was still characterized by two world wars and the austerity measures that followed. Chintz in faded colors, fringed and tasseled curtains, painted Regency furniture, sofas designed for years of fireplace comfort, and expertly applied surfaces that are subtly lit to show off beautiful antiques and paintings – these are the hallmarks – something Fowler called “modest elegance” “.

Colfax & Fowler has influenced some of the leading design firms such as Michael Smith, David Mlinaric, Bunny Williams and the late Mario Buatta.

Boudiette’s talk will include the homes of Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler. From Buckingham Palace to the London apartment of Ambassador David and Evangeline Bruce.

Lisa Singleton Boudiette is a heritage specialist with expertise in historical interiors and decorative arts. She is a former employee of the late US Senator Frank R. Lautenberg with a focus on art and conservation policy. She also worked for The Wiseman Group, a high-end home design company in San Francisco, California.

As an alumni of the Attingham Country House Studies Program and a founding member of the American Friends of the Soane Museum, Boudiette is a founder of the Institute for Classical Architecture and Art in San Francisco, California. She is currently completing a master’s degree at the University of Buckingham (England), which, among other things, worked as a conservation assistant at Syon House for the Duke of Northumberland.

The event is offered exclusively via Zoom. Tickets are available for a donation with a recommended donation of $ 20 and can be purchased at https://ventfort03122021.eventbrite.com. Call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206 for information.

Tags: design,

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