Since its inception in 1985, the Turtle Island Quartet has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings. Winner of the 2006 and 2008 Grammys\u00ae for Best Classical Crossover Album, 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.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The quartet\u2019s birth was the result of violinist David Balakrishnan\u2019s brainstorming explorations and compositional vision while completing his master\u2019s degree program at Antioch University West. The journey has taken Turtle Island through forays into folk, bluegrass, swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, new age, rock, and hip-hop, as well as music of Latin America and India\u2014a repertoire consisting of hundreds of ingenious arrangements and originals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The quartet\u2019s latest album, <\/span>Island Prayers<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> will celebrate the range of influences within the rich cultural spectrum of the continent \u201cTurtle Island.\u201d Four American string players formed a quartet with the express purpose of melding the wide range of music performed in North America, both past and present. Turtle Island is the origin story shared by many First Nation people of the eastern woodlands, where it is said that the entire continent of North America was built from soil placed on the back of a great turtle. 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