Turtle Island Quartet Performance Friday

Turtle Island Quartet performs Friday, Nov. 21, for the final University of Wyoming Cultural Programs concert of the fall semester at 7:30 p.m. in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.

Tickets cost $24 for the public, $20 for seniors and UW faculty/staff, and $10 for UW students. For tickets and information, call (307) 766-6666, visitwww.uwyo.edu/finearts/ or visit the Wyoming Union or Performing Arts Center box offices.

Turtle Island Quartet is the winner of the 2006 and 2008 Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album. The group fuses the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical style. The quartet’s name is from creation mythology found in Native American folklore. Since its inception in 1985, Turtle Island has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings.

The four performers are David Balakrishnan, violin; Mateusz Smoczynki, violin; Mark Summer, cello; and Benjamin von Gutzeit, viola.

Famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma says of the group, “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground -- authentic and passionate -- a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”