On March 5, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Spoleto alumni Gabriela Díaz and Ayane Kosaza will join the world-renowned chamber group Kronos Quartet in the article, “Two longtime members of Kronos Quartet plan a joint retirement.” Kronos will enter its sixth decade with two female members joining the ensemble, alongside existing members David Harrington and Paul Wiancko.
Both Kosaza and Díaz are alumni of Spoleto’s Bank of America Chamber Music Series. Kosaza appeared at the Festival in 2022 and 2023 and will return in 2024. In addition to the Chamber Music Series, Kosaza performed in the special performance honoring the late Geoff Nuttall who led the series from 2010 to 2022. Díaz first performed with the Chamber Music Series in 2014, returned in 2022, and will return in 2024.
Spoleto’s new Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music Paul Wiancko has been a member of Kronos since 2023.
Classical music reporter Joshua Kosman broke the news that second violinist John Sherba and violist Hank Dutt will retire from the group in June, “at the conclusion of the San Francisco group’s 50th anniversary season.” In exclusive interviews with the Chronicle, both Sherba and Dutt attributed their separate decisions to a combination of advancing age and the sense of closure from the 50th season.
“…Kronos became the world’s most prominent and prolific purveyor of new music for string quartet. The group has commissioned more than 1,000 works and string quartet arrangements, released more than 70 recordings, and collaborated with a pantheon of musical greats including Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and Wu Man.”
Kosman also reported, “succeeding them in the ensemble are two younger artists with extensive histories as chamber musicians. Violinist Gabriela Díaz is a performer of new music who teaches at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Violist Ayane Kosaza, a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, has collaborated with Wiancko.”
See these three musicians at the 2024 Bank of America Chamber Music Series taking place May 24 – June 9 at the Dock Street Theatre. Get tickets here.