BERLIN | GERMANY

DIFFERENT TRAINS

SonarLoft - Kühlhaus Berlin

Steve Reich | Kraftwerk | Philip Glass

Kühlhaus Berlin (5th Floor Rooftop)

Luckenwalderstraße 3, 10963 Berlin

January 24, 2025 - 8:00 PM

Doors Open:January 24, 2025, 7:30 PM

Sonar Quartet:

Wojciech Garbowski – Violin

Roberts Balanas – Violin (Special Guest, London, UK)

Ian Anderson – Viola

Konstantin Manaev – Cello

Tickets: [Link here]

On January 24, 2025, the Sonar Quartet invites you to an extraordinary evening of music at the SonarLoft in Kühlhaus Berlin.

The centerpiece of the program is Steve Reich's iconic work Different Trains, one of the most significant string quartets of the 20th century. This masterpiece intertwines personal memories of train journeys in the U.S. with the collective traumas of the 20th century. By combining the string quartet with tape recordings, Reich creates a dialogue between individual and historical perspectives, exploring themes of travel, escape, deportation, and how human lives are shaped by social and historical circumstances.

Philip Glass’ String Quartet No. 2 “Company” continues this conversation in a different manner. Originally composed as stage music for Samuel Beckett’s Company, the work reflects on the solitude of the individual and the existential questions within a complex social web. It embodies an inner journey, contemplating themes of belonging and isolation.

These themes are expanded upon in the world premiere of a new composition by the Sonar Quartet. This piece seeks to explore how the individual navigates the tensions between tradition, modernity, and societal change in contemporary times.

Adding yet another dimension, the quartet performs Kraftwerk’s Trans Europa Express. This seminal electronic music work delves into the relationship between humanity and technology, painting a vision of interconnectedness and mobility that has become increasingly relevant in the 21st century.

Kraftwerk’s vision of Europe as a network of people, ideas, and technologies closes the program with a futuristic outlook.

Program:

Philip Glass (1937–): String Quartet No. 2 “Company”

Sonar Quartet: World Premiere of a New Original Composition

Steve Reich (1936–): Different Trains

Kraftwerk: Trans Europa Express

For more information, visit: sonarquartett.de | sonarloft.de