At the end of June, following Kronos Quartet’s historic 50th-anniversary season, longtime members John Sherba (violin) and Hank Dutt (viola) will retire from the ensemble. Dutt joined Kronos in 1977; he and founder David Harrington (violin) recruited Sherba to join the group in 1978. In the ensuing 46 years, Dutt and Sherba have each left an unmistakable imprint on Kronos’ distinctive sound.

During that time, Kronos Quartet has grown from an upstart ensemble to a global cultural force, performing thousands of concerts around the world and selling more than 4 million recordings on Nonesuch and other labels – more than any other string quartet in history. The group has commissioned 1100+ new works and arrangements to date, and has won three Grammy awards (and twelve nominations) and numerous other prizes. In the past decade, KPAA inaugurated the visionary Kronos Fifty for the Future project, commissioning 50 works designed expressly for learning and distributing them for free. More fundamentally, Kronos has transformed the string quartet medium itself, bursting through stylistic and geographical boundaries, and incorporating sound design, lighting, and theatrical elements into its presentations.

Said John Sherba, “It is a dream come true to have been involved in the birth of so many important compositions, to have experienced all the major halls and their audiences, to have performed with an astonishing array of guest artists, to have worked with our amazing manager, Janet Cowperthwaite, our staff, and our KPAA board, to have made many recordings, and most importantly, to have been surrounded by the incredible Kronos players, past and present. I can’t believe I am approaching 70! I have decided, with a lot of contemplation, to free up my calendar, retire from Kronos, spend more time with my family, and spontaneously pursue my many other passions.

“I cannot imagine a career more artistically rewarding than the past 47 years I have spent with the Kronos Quartet,” said Hank Dutt. “Every day has been an adventure with a steady stream of collaborations with new composers, new musicians, and old friends. But for every thing there is a season. Having celebrated Kronos’ 50th anniversary, I feel now is the moment for me to step back and let a violist from the next generation further the Kronos tradition. I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life in music.”

Between now and the end of June, Sherba and Dutt will perform more than 20 shows with Harrington and cellist Paul Wiancko, who joined the quartet in 2023. The itinerary will include the Big Ears Festival, The Town Hall in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, and appearances in Toronto, Dublin, Hamburg, Vienna, Zürich, Luxembourg City, Hanover, and Amsterdam, among other cities. They will give their final performances with the group at the ninth annual Kronos Festival, June 20 - 23, 2024 at the SFJAZZ Center in the group’s hometown, San Francisco.

Said David Harrington, Kronos Quartet’s founder and Artistic Director, “Words can hardly express the depth of gratitude and appreciation I feel for the immense energy, dedication, and single- minded devotion Hank and John have given Kronos every day during all of these years. Their expertise, good cheer and friendship have been at the heart of all of our work. I wish them everything good in their onward journeys.”

Kronos will enter its sixth decade with two new members: violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kozasa will join Harrington and Wiancko.