Library of Congress Acquires Kronos Quartet Archive

The quartet’s archive includes manuscripts, instruments, and recordings, and will complement the library’s existing music collections

The world’s largest library, the Library of Congress (LOC) offers access to the creative record of the U.S. and extensive materials from around the world both on-site and online.

Now acquired by LOC for its Music Division, the archive of the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet and its non-profit organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), involves a collection of manuscripts, instruments, costumes, video and audio recordings, photographs, and more.

The quartet currently comprises violinist John Sherba, violist Hank Dutt, cellist Paul Wiancko, and violinist David Harrington — Kronos’ founder and artistic director. 

Harrington was recently appointed as LOC’s Kluge Chair in Modern Culture for 2024. During his residence, he will work with the LOC’s collections to uncover stories that may be woven into future Kronos projects. 

“[It] is the most perfect opportunity for discovery and the most wide-ranging challenge I have ever received,” Harrington said of his appointment in Kronos’ press release. “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.”

Since its founding in 1973, the Kronos Quartet has pioneered a new style of string quartet performance by showcasing works responding to the people and issues of society as it has shifted over the last 50 years. 

The quartet has also toured internationally and commissioned more than 1,100 works, and released over 70 recordings; the group has altered the expectations of concert presentation and made chamber music accessible to wider audiences. 

Kronos Quartet first performed in the LOC’s Coolidge Auditorium in 1986 and just returned just last week. Alongside the housing of various items from the Kronos collection, the LOC also recently inducted Kronos’ 1992 album, “Pieces of Africa” on Nonesuch records to the 2024 National Recording Registry of audio treasures. 

Additionally, the Kronos archive complements other collections held by the LOC Music Division, including papers and manuscripts of composers commissioned and/or performed by the quartet — such as those of John Adams, George Crumb, Charles Mingus, and Ruth Crawford Seeger, among others.

“Kronos Quartet's impact on contemporary music is hard to overstate,” said LOC Music Division’s chief Susan H. Vita in the press release. “It is ideal for the quartet’s legacy as cutting-edge multidisciplinary artists and commissioners of living composers to be preserved here at the Library of Congress, an institution which itself plays a role in the creation of new music and which has long been a preeminent international destination for the living string quartet tradition.

“The Music Division’s connections to string quartet ensembles and string quartet performances — even right down to our famed Stradivari instruments — occupy a large slice of music history,” Vita continued. “It is fitting that the exceptional history of Kronos Quartet becomes part of this storied history.”

“We are thrilled to place our archives with the Library of Congress,” added Janet Cowperthwaite, KPAA’s executive director. “It’s gratifying to know that Kronos’ legacy will be preserved in perpetuity alongside the manuscripts and other treasures of so many other influential musicians from the United States and around the world. And, as an organization devoted to innovation in music, we are perhaps even more excited to reflect upon all the musicians and scholars who will have access to these materials in years to come, informing their own work and carrying Kronos’ inspiration and influence into the future.”