Saturday May 3, 2008 (8–10pm)
Kronos Quartet are risk takers, but their collaboration with Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq is really something special. Inuit throat singing is an otherworldly sound, a game of vocal hot potato in which two women toss rhythmic, guttural utterances back and forth. And Tagaq is no ordinary throat singer: more arctic raver than keeper of ancient arts, she's turned the traditional practice into a mode of sexy, avant-garde solo expression. (Just check her guest work on Björk's Medúlla.) Tonight, Kronos' strings play counterpoint to the singer's ferocious shrieks and murmurs in their co-written piece Nunavut — the orgasmic finale alone is worth the ticket — and a world premiere by Canadian composer Derek Charke.
– Anna Balkrishna