Since 1973, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has challenged and reimagined what a string quartet can be. Founded at a time when the form was largely centered on long-established, Western European traditions, Kronos has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the string quartet into a living art form that responds to the people and issues of our time. In the process it has become one of the world’s most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, releasing more than 70 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world’s most accomplished composers and performers, and commissioning more than 1,000 works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos has received more than 40 accolades, including three GRAMMY Awards and the Polar Music and Avery Fisher Prizes, some of the most prestigious awards given to musicians. In 2018, the group became the first US-based performers to receive the WOMEX (World Music Expo) Artist Award. The nonprofit Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA) manages all aspects of Kronos’ work, which includes commissioning, recording, production of digital media, concert tours, home season performances, education and community engagement programs, and the self-produced Kronos Festival. In 2015, KPAA launched 50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, a visionary education and legacy initiative to commission works by musicians from around the world — half of whom are artists of color — and to share the sheet music, recordings, and supplemental materials online, for free and in perpetuity.