Berea, Ky. - The Turtle Island String Quartet, in collaboration with the Ying Quartet, will perform at Berea College's Phelps Stokes Chapel Thursday, March 6 at 8 p.m.

In this unique concert, the ensembles will explore jazz, improvisation and the classical string quartet tradition. "Balakrishnan Octet," a new work by composer David Balakrishnan, violinist with Turtle Island.

The ensemble has released a number of recordings, collaborating with such celebrated artists as Bela Fleck, Dr. Billy Taylor, and most recently Paquito D'Rivera. They have performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and San Francisco' Herbst Theatre. Their collaborative concert with the Ying Quartet is part of a three-week tour during 2002-03.

Founded in 1986, Turtle Island String Quartet (TISQ) fuses the classical quartet esthetic with 20th century American popular styles. Each member of TISQ is an accomplished musician in their own right with extensive conservatory training.

Grammy nominee Balakrishnan, who plays both violin and baritone violin, is the founder, leader and primary composer and arranger of the group. His tenure with TISQ has included several recordings, a movie soundtrack and collaborations with groups like the Modern Jazz Quartet and the Manhattan Transfer. His Grammy nomination in 1989 was for his arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia" from TISQ's first recording. Balakrishnan has been featured in People and Newsweek and in concert, TV, and radio appearances all over the world. He holds degrees in music composition for UCLA and Antioch University West.

Evan Price, a violinist from the age of nine, has played with master fiddlers such as Mark O'Connor, Buddy Spicher and Vassar Clements as well as pop artists Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. A competitive fiddler, he has been the U.S. Scottish Fiddling Champion, the Kentucky State Fiddling Champion among other honors. He studied at the Cleveland Institute and at the Berklee College of Music, and has served as a member of the music department faculty at Wellesley College.

Danny Seidenberg made his solo viola debut at 16 with the Pittsburgh Symphony and attended the Julliard School in New York. He has performed with New York's top orchestra, ballet and opera organizations, performed and toured with such artists as Liza Minelli, Tony Bennett, James Brown and Led Zeppelin, recorded with his own progressive rock group "Spy," and has played on dozens of major Hollywood films. Also a pianist and early instrument specialist, Seidenberg has become a performer, composer, arranger and jazz educator of international stature.

Mark Summer, cellist, is an original member of TISQ. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, he was a tenured member of the Winnipeg Symphony for three years before leaving to perform with several Canadian contemporary and Baroque ensembles and his own group The West-End String Band. He is a teacher and composer for cello, has recorded numerous motion picture soundtracks and has performed and recorded with Linda Ronstadt, singer Toni Childs, Jeff Tamelier of Tower of Power, saxophonist Kirk Whalum, and guitarist Will Ackerman.

The Ying Quartet is composed of David, Timothy, Phillip, and Janet Ying, originally from Winnetka, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Started on the piano by their mother, the Yings eventually took up string instruments, forming a quartet with two violins, a viola and cello. Each has attended the Eastman School of Music, at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The ensemble is currently the Quartet in Residence. In 1992, they became the first recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts grant for chamber music in rural America. They have since performed in every major city in the United States and in England, Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, Estonia, Australia, Taiwan and Japan.

This concert is free and open to the public, and is part of the 2002-03 Stephenson Memorial Concert series. For more information about the Berea College Convocation program, visit www.berea.edu/convo.