Mission

A Far Cry’s mission is to ignite a love for music and utilize its power to bring people together locally and across the globe. The ensemble delivers riveting performances with daring energy and commitment through our unique model of collective leadership, bringing music to life in innovative ways. Sharing this experience of unconventional music-making is our way of inspiring the world to listen.

Vision

A Far Cry’s vision is a world that listens.

About A Far Cry

A Far Cry was founded in 2007 on the belief that every voice deserves to be heard; so instead of one artistic director, the collective of musicians (“Criers”) curate and submit program ideas inspired by individual curiosities, and what is happening in the world at large. The result is ensemble-playing at its most intimate, representing a diverse mix of music and collaborators. 

A Far Cry has risen to the top of Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart and has twice been nominated for GRAMMY Awards in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance category. The group’s recording of Rounds by Jessie Montgomery with pianist Awadagin Pratt on his album Stillpoint garnered Montgomery the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2024. A Far Cry’s albums The Blue Hour (New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records) and A Gentleman of Istanbul (Crier Records) were also GRAMMY nominees that year in the Best Engineered Album, Classical category. A Far Cry’s Crier Records launched auspiciously in 2014 with the GRAMMY-nominated album Dreams and Prayers. The label’s second release, Law of Mosaics, was included on many top 10 lists, notably from The New Yorker’s Alex Ross and WQXR, which named A Far Cry as one of the "Imagination-Grabbing, Trailblazing Artists of 2014.” The 2018 release Visions and Variations, received two GRAMMY nominations, including one for Best Chamber Music Performance. 

A Far Cry’s omnivorous approach has led to collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Simone Dinnerstein, Dinuk Wijeratne, Davóne Tines, Roomful of Teeth, the Silk Road Ensemble, Vijay Iyer, and David Krakauer, to name a few. Highlights include new commissioning projects: Philip Glass’ third piano concerto with soloist Simone Dinnerstein, and The Blue Hour, “a gorgeous and remarkably unified work” (Washington Post) written by a collaborative of five leading female composers – Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider. The Blue Hour was released in partnership with New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records, and was named a Top 10 Album of the year by NPR. In 2023, the group recorded and toured pianist Awadagin Pratt’s Stillpoint project, which features music by Alvin Singleton, Jessie Montgomery, Judd Greenstein, Paola Prestini, Pēteris Vasks, and Tyshawn Sorey. The album, out on New Amsterdam, was called “perhaps the finest of his [Pratt’s] career” by NPR. In 2023, Crier Records also released Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol's A Gentleman of Istanbul, which the group commissioned in 2017. San Francisco Classical Voice called the work a “dazzling multicultural symphony.”

In addition to presenting its annual home series of nine programs at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and other locations throughout Boston, A Far Cry tours nationally and has performed at leading venues including The Kennedy Center, National Gallery of Art, Kaufman Music Center, the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, at Caramoor, the Ravinia Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival-Shalin Liu, Groton Hill Music Center, Newport Classical Music Festival, and many more.The Criers are proud to call Boston home, and maintain strong roots in the city. The group recently celebrated the conclusion of a 10-year residency at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Collaborating with local students through educational partnerships with the New England Conservatory and Project STEP, A Far Cry aims to pass on the spirit of collaboratively-empowered music to the next generation.