With an energizing and adventurous repertoire focusing on both new works by living composers and contemporary classics, the Dutt Campbell Duo unites the talents and vision of two prominent figures in today’s new music: violist Hank Dutt, who performed with the three-time Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet for nearly 50 years; and pianist Kate Campbell, a current member of the groundbreaking San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the West Coast’s largest and longest-running new music ensemble.
Given their focus on contemporary works, it’s fitting that Campbell and Dutt were introduced to each other (in 2024) by a noted composer—Mary Kouyoumdjian, whose alternately elegiac and turbulent Children of Conflict: A Boy with a Makeshift Toy for viola and piano has become a flagship work for the duo. Campbell and Dutt also workshopped their musical partnership early on with a movement—in a new duo arrangement by Dutt—from a Kronos-commissioned work from Dutt’s past, Sunjata’s Time for string quartet and balafon by Malian balafon virtuoso and Trio Da Kali member Fodé Lassana Diabaté.
The duo is committed to commissioning new works, including a forthcoming piece from Kouyoumdjian and compositions by Missy Mazzoli and former Kronos cellist Joan Jeanrenaud. Dutt and Campbell are also ardent supporters of New York’s nonprofit Luna Composition Lab and look forward to premiering a new composition by a Luna Lab alum and to performing additional works by Luna Lab mentors and alumni. Looking to the immediate precursors and influences of many of today’s leading composers, Dutt and Campbell offer their own singular interpretations of now-classic works by the likes of Meredith Monk, Philip Glass, Toru Takemitsu, and Benjamin Britten.
About Hank Dutt
The violist of the world-renowned Kronos Quartet for most of his five-decade career, Hank Dutt has been hailed for “exquisitely songlike phrasing” (New York Times) and “one of the most humanly haunting viola sounds around” (Santa Barbara News Press). He has appeared on more than 70 recordings (including three Grammy Award–winners), premiered more than 1,100 new compositions and arrangements, and taken the stages of the world‘s most revered concert venues and festivals thousands of times. He has also shared in numerous other national and international honors, including the Polar Music Prize, Avery Fisher Award, and "Musicians of the Year" from Musical America.
About Kate Campbell
Hailed as a “brilliant pianist” (Financial Times) and “an artist of remarkable commitment and insight” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Kate Campbell has been the pianist of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players for 12 years and regularly collaborates with other new music ensembles like After Everything and Eco Ensemble. Her recent honors include a Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency, a distinguished fellowship at Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts, and a residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute. Her recorded work can be heard on New Amsterdam Records, Pinna Records, and New Focus Recordings. She currently serves on the collegiate faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.