Q&AQ&A with Mark Summer, cellist and co-founder of Turtle Island Quartet
IF YOU GOWhat: Patten Performances Series presents Turtle Island Quartet.When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.Where: Roland Hayes Concert Hall, UTC Fine Arts Center, corner of Vine and Palmetto streets.Admission: $19-$22.Phone: 425-4269.Venue website: ww.utc.edu/finearts.Artist’s site: www.turtleislandquartet.com
Nothing says “chamber music” quite like an all-string rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s final album, “Electric Ladyland,” or a cellist’s fingers strolling up and down the fingerboard on John Coltrane’s bebop opus “A Love Supreme.”
Well, perhaps not, but avoiding convention in favor of innovative, unexpected arrangements has been Turtle Island Quartet’s bread and butter since it was founded in 1987.
Despite maintaining the classical chamber music instrumental configuration, the San Francisco-based collective has been forcing people to redefine their expectations of what that format is capable of for decades, said co-founder and cellist Mark Summer.