Friction Quartet, lauded for performances described as “terribly beautiful” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “stunningly passionate” (Calgary Herald), and “exquisitely skilled” (ZealNYC), is dedicated to modernizing the chamber music experience and expanding the string quartet repertoire. The quartet achieves its mission by commissioning cutting-edge composers, curating imaginative concert programs, collaborating with diverse artists, and engaging in interactive educational outreach.

EPSG:4326

Friction Quartet With Soprano, Amy Foote

The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

NOTE: This concert has been postponed from its original date (in November). The new performance date is Friday, January 19, 2024, 7:30pm, at Sunset Music and Arts, 1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco.

The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of NACUSA invites you to join us at a concert of new chamber works written by West Coast composers. The program will include four new pieces for string quartet and five more for string quartet and soprano. Our outstanding guest artists are Friction Quartet and Soprano, Amy Foote. 

Nacusasf Presents "New Music For String Quartet & Soprano"

Sunset Music And Arts

Oceans and ice floes ebb, flood, warm and change; life recedes or presses forward. Join TAC and the Friction Quartet in contemplating our unknown future with music for string quartet with and without electronics, in this climate-inspired concert. The program will feature To Unpathed Waters Undreamed Shores by Michi Wiancko, Under the Sea Ice by Christopher Luna Mega, and premieres of three new pieces by TAC student composers.

TAC for Climate Change

Bowes Center

Jeff Anderle is a pioneer in the world of low reeds, helping to popularize the role of the modern clarinet and bass clarinet through his innovative and diverse performances, ensembles, and commissions. He is the bass clarinetist in Splinter Reeds and half of the bass clarinet duo Sqwonk, as well as a member of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. He is a former member of the virtuosic, heavy metal bass clarinet quartet Edmund Welles, as well as REDSHIFT contemporary music ensemble and the Paul Dresher Electro/Acoustic Band. In addition, he makes regular guest appearances with a wide range of music institutions from orchestras to diverse chamber music ensembles. Jeff is a founding co-director of Switchboard Music, and serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he teaches clarinet, chamber music and professional development, and is the chair of the woodwind department. He is a Selmer Paris performing artist.

Jeff Anderle, clarinet

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Featuring compositions by Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, Philip Glass, Zakir Hussain, Susie Ibarra, Aleksander Kościów, Sky Macklay, Angélica Negrón, Peni Candra Rini, Charlton Singleton, Stephan Thelen.

The final program of this year’s Festival completes the survey of the eclectic Kronos Fifty for the Future repertoire with works by composers from India, Indonesia, Mali, Poland, Switzerland, and the United States (including Puerto Rico).

Kronos takes the stage and also welcomes two exceptional guest ensembles: New York’s Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet and, making their third appearance in this festival, SF’s own innovative Friction Quartet.

Kronos Festival - Program 3 (2023)

SFJAZZ Center

Kronos Festival continues with much more from the Kronos Fifty for the Future repertoire, expanding the compositional canvas with several longer-form works. Guest artists include guitarist and composer Rafiq Bhatia, joining Kronos for his work Glimmers; SF-based sound artist, experimental music performer, and instrument-maker Victoria Shen; and, in their second Festival appearance, San Francisco’s eclectic and exciting Friction Quartet.

kronos Festival - Program 2 (2023)

Featuring compositions by Guillermo Galindo, Rhiannon Giddens, Angélique Kidjo, Soo Yeon Lyuh, Kala Ramnath, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Henry Threadgill, Mario Galeano Toro, Merlijn Twaalfhoven, and Paul Wiancko.

The rich cultural diversity of the Kronos Fifty for the Future repertoire is on full display in the Kronos Festival’s lead-off program, with works by composers representing Benin, Colombia, India, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States. 

Special guests include San Francisco’s own Friction Quartet; Korean-born composer and haegeum virtuoso Soo Yeon Lyuh, joining Kronos for her own work Yessori; and Kronos cellist Paul Wiancko joining New York’s Aizuri Quartet (winners of Chamber Music America’s 2022 Cleveland Quartet Award) for his composition Only Ever Us.

kronos Festival - Program 1 (2023)

The fabulous Friction Quartet, "the Bay Area's redoubtable New Music ensemble" joins forces with eminent pianist, writer and producer Sarah Cahill for a program of contemporary works for piano quintet by Tania Leon, Max Stoffregen, and Noe Music favorite Timo Andres. Rounding out the program is one of the most beloved classics for string quartet, Dvorak's "American" Quartet, Op. 96.

Friction Quartet

Jan 19, 2024