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Since their founding in 1973, Kronos Quartet have become the foremost ambassador of contemporary chamber music, determined and successful at breaking down barriers between musical genres and between musicians and audiences. David Harrington, the ensemble's founder and first violinist, was inspired to form the group after hearing George Crumb's Black Angels. By the end of the 1970s, Kronos settled into a tight collaboration between Harrington, violinist John Sherba, violist Hank Dutt, and cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, and found a home base in San Francisco, California. At an early point, that initial musical inspiration and the audience reception at their performances led Kronos to devote themselves entirely to contemporary music and to present their music in a more relaxed environment than found at typical chamber music recitals. As of 2010, the Quartet had commissioned more than 700 works and arrangements, not just for string quartet, but also for quartet plus other performers and even...