Turtle Island Quartet brings the strings to GMU

When the Turtle Island Quartet plays, all the preconceived notions about string instruments are abolished and listeners are transported to an uncharted dimension. Two years after a jaw-dropping concert illustrating their “string theory,” the virtuoso musicians return to George Mason University Center for the Arts with original pieces inspired by jazz musicians and even a scientist.

Their guests, the outstanding jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut and Mike Marshall, the world-renowned player of mandolin, guitar and violin, will join them in arrangements of holiday favorites incorporating jazz improvisation with classical styles and an infusion of bluegrass, funk, Latin American and classical Indian music.