“deeply moved by [du Bois’ Night Songs’] wild, feverish, klezmer-tinged lyricism and almost suffocating closeness”   – Marion Lignana Rosenberg "contemplative, lyrical, lilting trio…composed with the understanding of a painter who knows exactly where her picture will be hung” – The New York Times “driven by strong feeling and by darkly pulsing, Janácek-like melodies”  – Alex Ross at The New Yorker "well-made and deeply sincere” – The New York Times “This was a stunning piece that explored the landscape of war and conflict with a sorrowful tone of foreboding, chaos and devastation” – BBC Manchester   “Returning to America after the interval, Alexandra du Bois’ Oculus pro Oculo Totum Orbem Terrae Caecat lamented the Iraq war with fragile whalesong moans usurped by powerful harmonies, offering an extraordinary interface between traditional and avant-garde, all the more so coming from a 20-year-old.” –the New Zealand Herald    “…her piece revealed promising and sympathetic affinity to the expressiveness of the [string quartet] genre” -The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia   “A quartet by American composer Alexandra du Bois, still in her early 20s, was an impressively sustained essay in musical melancholy.” - the Guardian, London “In…Alexandra du Bois' melancholic reflection on the Iraqi war, An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind; the Kronos' specialty in exquisitely sculpted blends of infinitely sustained resonance was especially prominent.” –State of the Arts   “inspired by what du Bois sees as a pervasive sense of anxiety due to the threat of an impending war.” - Contra Costa Times [San Francisco]   Listen to commentary by Alexandra with excerpts of five of her works   “…Moments of Gorecki-like calm, oddly stifled phrases and even some haunting reminiscences of Bartók's night-music made for compelling effect, as did some 'weeping' sounds and a poignant minor chord to end the quartet. This is altogether an impressive work – the more so for a composer…who was barely in her twenties when it was completed….I was glad to have departed with the sound of Alexandra du Bois's interesting and sensitive sonorities as my prime memory of this concert.” -Timothy Ball, the Classical Source   "…fresh and incredibly captivating." -French music critic Daniel Caux   “Alexandra du Bois’ string quartet…was an eloquent lament.” - the Manchester Online   Read an article about Alexandra in NewMusicBox   “A very effective quasi-microtonal texture followed that demonstrated the composer's ability to create and control sound with understanding and maturity. It was a well-thought-out, well-performed and thoroughly enjoyed work.” - the Register-Pajaronian, [Pajaro Valley]   “Alexandra du Bois, a young composer commissioned by the "Kronos under 30 Project", provided a meditation on the build-up to the Iraq war, all ominous bird calls and languorous, threatening chords.” - the Financial Times, London   Listen to an interview with excerpts of Alexandra’s first string quartet for the Kronos Quartet (Partially in English)   “a dramatic highpoint.” - the Potsdammer [Germany]   "gentle wails and tremolos a la George Crumb… then surging into a succession of agitated micro-bursts alternating with contemplative episodes, followed by quasi-minimalistic repetitions….” - the Chicago Tribune   Read an article about Alexandra in the Indiana University Research and Creative Activity Magazine   “And there was much to intrigue, too, in an eerie, quartertone-soured lamentation by the American composer Alexandra du Bois — not least the fact that she wrote this precocious score in 2003 when she was just 21. As classical scholars may surmise, its title — Oculus pro oculo totum orbem terrae caecat (An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind) — is intended as another wry comment on President Bush’s world-view. So it led neatly, if not exactly happily, into the Kronos’ sardonic thrash through Hendrix.” - The Times, London   “We were guided by our instinctive response to the emotional power of her music and the great promise her work exemplifies for the future…Kronos is thrilled to begin working with Alexandra du Bois." -from a press release for the Kronos Quartet by founder and first violinist, of the Kronos Quartet, David Harrington   “magnificent,” by French music critic Noémie Colomb