GRAMMY AWARD WINNING TURTLE ISLAND STRING QUARTET IN CONCERT SUNDAY, MARCH 5!
Made possible with generous support from
McDonalds of Franklin County
PA Partners in the Arts
Gilmore-Hoerner Endowment
CHAMBERSBURG. The Cumberland Valley School of Music will present the world renowned Turtle Island String Quartet in concert on Sunday, March 5, at 3:00 PM in the Chambersburg Area Senior High School auditorium, 511 S. Sixth St., Chambersburg, PA. The group won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album at the recent ceremony in Los Angeles! The concert is made possible with generous support from McDonalds of Franklin County, the PA Partners in the Arts, and the Gilmore Hoerner Endowment.
Its name derived from creation mythology found in Native American Folklore, the Turtle Island String Quartet, since its inception in 1985, has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings. Cellist Yo Yo Ma has proclaimed group “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.” Turtle Island fuses the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical styles, and by devising a performance practice that honors both, the state of the art has inevitably been redefined.
Their musical journeys include forays into folk, bluegrass, swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, rock, hip-hop, as well as music of Latin America and India …a repertoire consisting of hundreds of ingenious arrangements and originals. They have adapted compositions by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Mozart, Beethoven, Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Tower of Power, and Bartok, among many others.
TISQ has recorded over a dozen recordings on labels such as Windham Hill, Chandos, Koch and Telarc, soundtracks for motion pictures, toured the world and appeared on the “Today Show,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” “All Things Considered,” and many other TV and radio programs. There have been feature articles in People and Newsweek magazines, and collaborations with famed artists such as clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, The Manhattan Transfer, pianists Billy Taylor and Kenny Barron, the Ying Quartet and the Parsons Dance Company.
Another unique element of the group is their revival of venerable improvisational and compositional chamber traditions that have not been explored by string players for nearly 200 years. At the time of Haydn’s apocryphal creation of the string quartet form, musicians were more akin to today’s saxophonists and keyboard masters of the jazz and pop world, i.e., improvisers, composers, and arrangers. Each Turtle Island member is accomplished in these areas of expertise as well as having extensive conservatory training as instrumentalists.
One result of this dedication can be seen in Turtle Island’s phenomenal international appeal, particularly in Europe where chamber music remains a vital facet of life. What was once termed ‘alternative’ chamber music now firmly inhabits the mainstream. Group members refine their skills through unusual and endemic ‘re-compositions’ of works by the old masters, through the development of repertory by some of today’s cutting edge composers, through performances and recordings with major symphonic ensembles, and through a determined educational commitment. Turtle Island String Quartet promises to be a string quartet for the 21st century.
Admission to the concert is $15, with a special $8 price for students (K-12). Currently enrolled CVSM students and faculty are admitted free. Tickets are available from the Cumberland Valley School of Music, 717-261-1220, or visit their website at www.cvsmusic.org for more information. Tickets will also be available at the door on the day of the event.
For more information about Turtle Island String Quartet, visit their website at www.tisq.com
QUOTES ABOUT TURTLE ISLAND STRING QUARTET:
What the Critics Say ...
“At some other time, in some other venue, I may have heard a better live performance. But I doubt it…astonishing virtuosos…the quartet’s performance was breathtaking…” ~ Nashville Scene
“Impeccable precision in its pitch and coordination” ~ The New York Times
“…intellectually engaging, technically dazzling and emotionally rich…” ~ The Birmingham News
“Excellent precision and musicality” ~ The Washington Post
“ Seventeen years and still the champs” ~ Strings Magazine
“Razor-sharp execution” ~ Lincoln Journal Star
“Stands tradition on its civilized ear.” ~ People Magazine
“An unqualified musical triumph.” ~ The San Francisco Bay Guardian
“The niche they fit into best might be labeled ‘Wow!’” ~ St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“This group has set a standard beyond the reach of its few contemporaries…In the multifarious idiom they have all but invented, Turtle Island remains the ne plus ultra.” ~ The Los Angeles Times
“…zest, imagination and brilliant technique…” ~ The San Francisco Examiner
“The strings sing, not like angels, but like they’ve been around. The improvisations…hang tough, solidly built, and take no back talk from anybody.” ~ The Seattle Post-Intelligence
“Irreverent, classy and smart…” ~ Albuquerque Journal
“Turtle Island Quartet Stands Alone.” ~ headline, The Los Angeles Times
“…amazing power and finesse.” ~ The Oregonian
“…exhilarating and genuinely original.” ~ Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
“It must have been like this when Beethoven was taking Vienna by storm – the exhilaration of seeing the future of classical music unfold before your eyes and ears.” ~ St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“The artists displayed the precision, blend and technical virtuosity of a renowned string quartet and the inventive genius of a tight jazz combo”. ~ Salt Lake City Tribune
TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET
Discography
Turtle Island String Quartet, Windham Hill
Metropolis, Windham Hill
Skylife, Windham Hill
On The Town, Windham Hill
Spider Dreams, Windham Hill
Who Do We Think We Are, Windham Hill
By The Fireside, Windham Hill
A Night In Tunisia, A Week In Detroit, with Detroit Symphony and Neeme Järvi, Chandos
Turtle Island String Quartet: A Windham Hill Retrospective, Windham Hill
The Hamburg Concert, CCn’C Records
Art Of The Groove, Turtle Island Records/ Koch International Classics
Danzón, with Paquito D’Rivera, Turtle Island Records/Koch International Classics
4 plus Four, with the Ying Quartet, Telarc
Windham Hill Samplers:
Winter Solstice II
Winter Solstice III
Winter Solstice IV
The Impressionists
The Romantics
The Mozart Variations
Collaborations:
HBO comedy series, Sex and the City, 3rd season
A Shock To The System, film soundtrack
Affliction, film soundtrack
Porta do Templo, Caito Marcondes/Turtle Island String Quartet
Homage, Billy Taylor Trio w/ Turtle Island String Quartet, GRP
Laments & Dances, Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo with Turtle Island String Quartet, BMG