If you ever find yourself soaring through a vast void as timeless planets implode on themselves, releasing wispy clouds of beautiful luminous gases, and you are faced with the meaning of your own small existence among the infinite, expanding universe, Kronos Quartet is the music you want to be listening to. The San Francisco–based string quartet has been making heartbreaking, spellbinding and mind-blowing experimental classical music since 1973. They’ve collaborated with the likes of Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, David Bowie, Tom Waits and Bjork. Having composed the soundtrack of intense films like Requiem for a Dream, Kronos often tackles difficult subject matter through their work (their newest album Floodplain takes the barren and damaged landscapes of flood zones as its central inspiration). But the much-acclaimed quartet also isn’t adverse to a little summer fun. They are performing at a lawn barbecue this week. Eat some ribs and ponder existence to Kronos Quartet on Sunday, Aug. 16, at the Rancho Nicasio. 1 Old Rancheria Road, Nicasio. 3pm. $25. 415.662.2219.Dan Hirsch
.Aug. 16: Kronos Quartet at the Rancho Nicasio
