The John W. Kluge Center is pleased to announce the appointment of David Harrington as Kluge Chair in Modern Culture. Harrington is the founder and first violinist of the Kronos Quartet, which since 1973 has produced dozens of albums in a diverse range of styles and commissioned more than 1,000 pieces by composers from all over the world.
The Kronos Quartet released the album “Long Time Passing” in 2020, a celebration of musician and activist Pete Seeger, which involved collaboration with the American Folklife Center. And the quartet’s ongoing Kronos 50 For The Future initiative aims to help young amateur and early-career professional string quartets in developing and honing the skills required for the performance of 21st-century repertoire.
While in residence, Harrington will be working with the collections in the American Folklife Center to uncover stories that may be woven into future Kronos projects.
“As I imagine next steps in the work of the Kronos Quartet,” Harrington said, “my appointment as Kluge Chair in Modern Culture at the Library of Congress is the most perfect opportunity for discovery and wide-ranging challenge I have ever received. I am so grateful to everyone involved in creating this honor for me and want Kronos’ future musical adventures to be the true expression of my thanks. I cannot wait to be surrounded by the vast resources and limitless possibilities contained in the Library as I begin to define, with much expert help from the incredible librarians and staff, new adventures for the world of Kronos.”