Congratulations to Kronos Quartet, whose acclaimed album Pieces of Africa, released on Nonesuch Records in 1992, has been named one of twenty-five recordings to be inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress for 2024. "It planted a seed for our work," Kronos Quartet founder and violinist David Harrington says of the album in the announcement video below. "It's flowered so beautifully."

“The Library of Congress is proud to preserve the sounds of American history and our diverse culture through the National Recording Registry,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “We have selected audio treasures worthy of preservation with our partners this year, including a wide range of music from the past 100 years, as well as comedy.” To see the complete list of inductees,  visit loc.gov.

Pieces of Africa became a cross-cultural and commercial landmark—the first album to top both the classical and world music Billboard charts. Kronos Quartet—Harrington; John Sherba, violin; Hank Dutt, viola; and Joan Jeanrenaud, cello—are joined in performing on the album by most of its composers, including multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Dumisani Maraire, sintir-player and vocalist Hassan Hakmoun, kora player Foday Musa Suso, tar player Hamza El Din, and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Obo Addy, as well oud player Radouane Laktib, bander player Said Hakmoun, hosho player Dan Pauli, and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. You can hear the album and get it on vinyl here.

“For the past twenty-one years, the National Recording Preservation Board has provided musical expertise, historical perspective and deep knowledge of recorded sound to assist the Librarian in choosing landmark recordings to be inducted into the Library’s National Recording Registry,” said Robbin Ahrold, chair of the National Recording Preservation Board. “The board again this year is pleased to join the Librarian in highlighting influential works in our diverse sound heritage, as well as helping to spread the word on the National Recording Registry through their own social media and streaming media campaigns.”

The recordings selected for the National Recording Registry bring the number of titles on the registry to 650. Previous Nonesuch inductees include Buena Vista Social Club, released on World Circuit / Nonesuch Records in 1997 and inducted in 2022; Morton Subotnik's Silver Apples of the Moon, released in 1967 and added to the list in 2009; and Music from the Morning of the World, recorded by David Lewiston in Bali in 1966 for the Nonesuch Explorer series and added in 2007.