Clarinetist David Krakauer performs with Kronos Quartet at Carnegie Hall, 5/3

Clarinetist David Krakauer will join the Kronos Quartet on Friday, May 3, 2013 at 9pm, at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (57th & 7th Avenue), as part of Late Nights at Zankel Hall. Krakauer will be featured on the New York premiere of Aleksandra Vrebalov's Babylon, Our Own. Also included on the program will be the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli's You Know Me From Here, Laurie Anderson's Flow (arr. Jacob Garchik), and the New York premiere of Valentin Silvestrov's String Quartet No. 3.

Vrebalov states, "Babylon, Our Own is written for the Kronos Quartet and David Krakauer, and is inspired by their passionate and masterful playing of diverse styles of music. I wrote the piece having in mind their individual characteristics as performers: Krakauer's ecstatic high register, David Harrington's uncanny responsiveness in dialogue-like sections, John Sherba's rare ability to carve the shortest phrase into a precise musical statement, Hank Dutt's most soulful solos, and Jeffrey Zeigler's powerful triple-stops and superhuman rhythmic precision. The result is a piece in which times, places, and cultures intersect to celebrate music as the language I feel most comfortable with, a language that has brought all of us together."

Clarinetist David Krakauer occupies the unique position of being both one of the world's leading exponents of Eastern European Jewish Klezmer music, plus a major voice in classical music and avant-garde improvisation. His Klezmer sound has been described by RootsWorld as "an electrifying amalgam of cozy Eastern European traditions, free-form jazz, and dissonant howls of rage and pain ... a bittersweet statement of personal and collective race memory."

Krakauer states, "Ever since the moment I was able to play the clarinet halfway decently I've been interested in juxtaposing the making of my own music with interpreting classical compositions. (In that sense I never felt the need to "cross"- I was already "over.") It was always amazing to see how the two interacted with one another. Constantly working to create my own sounds (whether it be through improvising or composing) has helped me find my personal key to interpretation: first, always striving to be closer to the moment of creation (play the piece as if I had composed it or improvised it); second, seeking to tell a story; and third, creating a dialogue between my ideas and what I perceive as the composer's ideas."

For nearly 40 years, the Kronos Quartet- David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola), and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello)- has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing 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, and commissioning more than 750 works and arrangements for string quartet. 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. For more information, visit www.kronosquartet.org.

More about David Krakauer: David Krakauer has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music. Known simply as "Krakauer" to his fervent following, he is nothing less than an American original who has embarked on a tremendous journey transforming the music of his Eastern European Jewish heritage into something uniquely contemporary. That journey has lead Krakauer to an astounding diversity of projects and collaborations ranging from solo appearances with orchestras to major festival concerts with his own improvisation based bands.

He has shared the stage with a wide array of artists such as The Klezmatics, Fred Wesley, Itzhak Perlman, Socalled, Eiko and Koma, Leonard Slatkin and Iva Bitova while being sought after by such composers as Danny Elfman, Osvaldo Golijov, David Del Tredici, John Zorn, George Tsontakis, Mohammed Fairouz and Wlad Marhulets to interpret their works. In addition, he has performed with renowned string quartets including the Kronos, Tokyo and the Emerson and as soloist with orchestras such as the Orchestre de Lyon, the Orquestra Sinfonica de Madrid, the Phoenix Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Dresdener Philharmonie and the Detroit Symphony, among many others. The Big Picture, Krakauer's latest project, explores the inseparable relationship between music and movies while reminding the audience of their incomparable contributions as co-stars. The project explores the music from moviegoer's favorites, including Sophie's Choice, Life is Beautiful, The Pianist, and Radio Days.

Writer Mark Stryker hinted at the visceral nature of Krakauer's performance in his Detroit Free Press review: "Krakauer played with astounding virtuosity and charisma. A furiously improvised cadenza leapt between low and high registers in a way that suggested John Coltrane, building to an excited peak. After the concerto he also offered an encore, improvising by himself with an air of ritual, before playing a swift klezmer dance with the orchestra."

Krakauer makes his home in New York, and is managed by Bernstein Artists, Inc. He is an artist and clinician for the Selmer, Conn-Selmer and Rico companies. For more information, visit www.davidkrakauer.com.