Candler Concert Series
Single Ticket Price: $45
"This unique, jazzy four piece continues to entertain with its distinctive brand of tight, impressive bow-etry in motion." —Billboard Magazine
Winners of the 2006 and 2008 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Crossover Album, Turtle Island has merged classical quartet instrumentation with contemporary American musical styles. In the past three years, the group — resident composer, artistic director, and violinist David Balakrishnan with violinist Gabriel Terracciano, violist Benjamin von Gutzeit, and cellist Naseem Alatrash — has transitioned from an ensemble that primarily features a variety of arranged works to one that commissions and creates original music.
A major statement in the realm of original work, Island Prayers is an ambitious, multi-composer extravaganza co-commissioned by the Schwartz Center at Emory University, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Meany Performing Arts Center, The Music Hall (Portsmouth NH), and Savannah Music Hall. The project features new works by jazz composer Terence Blanchard, MacArthur Genius Fellow Rhiannon Giddens, New Music USA Composer-in-Residence Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, and Turtle Island Quartet founder David Balakrishnan.