Kronos Quartet began its week-long residency at the Barbican in London over the weekend with two quartet master classes with Junior Guildhall musicians and Kronos Lab, a three-day workshop in which four emerging quartets are exploring contemporary repertoire with the members of Kronos Quartet. The residency, titled Awakenings, continues tonight with Made in America, a concert at Hackney Empire, featuring works by US composers, including the London premiere of the 2008 staged version of Black Angels by George Crumb. It is the first of three concerts this week, each to be held in a different London venue with a focus on a specific theme.

Amid all of the residency events, Kronos Quartet stopped by the BBC Radio 3 studios for an appearance on In Tune. "One of the most celebrated and famous ensembles on this globe," says host Sean Rafferty of his guests. "Nearly 40 years of innovation, excellence and excitement—how does one begin to describe the Kronos Quartet?"

Rafferty aims to find out by talking with the group about the residency and their wider genre-bending musical explorations. Kronos also performs Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me, a piece by an unknown Iraqi composer, which can be heard in concert at the Barbican on Thursday and on the group's 2009 Nonesuch album, Floodplain; and Tusen Tankar, a traditional Scandinavian piece the group will perform in a concert of early music at Wilton's Music Hall on Friday.

Listen to the In Tune interview and performance at bbc.co.uk; the Kronos Quartet segment begins at less than five minutes in. For more on this week's Awakenings residency, go to barbican.org.uk. For additional upcoming concert dates, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.

To pick up a copy of Floodplain and Kronos Quartet's latest Nonesuch release, Music of Vladimir Martynov, from which they will perform at Thursday's Barbican concert, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s at checkout.

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Kronos Quartet can also be heard on Chimes of Freedom, the new collection of songs of Bob Dylan performed by artists across the musical spectrum, out today, with proceeds going to support Amnesty International. Kronos Quartet performs "Don’t' Think Twice, It's All Right." Also on the album are label mates Carolina Chocolate Drops, who perform "Political World." For more information and to hear samples from the album, go to amnestyusa.org.