The Turtle Island Quartet, a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings, returns to the UTC Fine Arts Center for the final performance of this amazing Patten season.

Turtle Island’s revival of the improvisational and compositional chamber traditions that have not been explored by string players for nearly 200 years have resulted in Grammy Awards in both 2006 and 2008 for Best Classical Crossover Album. Fusing the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical styles and devising a performance practice that honors both, Turtle Island redefines the state of the art. Yo-Yo Ma has proclaimed TIQ to be “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”

Through their exploration of jazz, classical, American vernacular and world music styles, the Turtle Island Quartethas taken its audiences on a journey through many musical genres, eras, and places while recording for the Windham Hill and Telarc labels. Now the quartet ventures to Electric Ladyland, tackling works by legendary guitarist, songwriter and performer Jimi Hendrix, as well as other compositions reflective of and inspired by Hendrix’s music including TIQ founder David Balakrishnan’s new composition “Tree of Life” and “To Bop Or Not To Be” by English jazz fusion guitarist/composer John McLaughlin.

Celebrate another great Patten season with this concert by one of the foremost musical groups in the world today!