Turtle Island String Quartet News

The Chicago-based Luna Negra Dance Theater and Turtle Island String Quartet performed Thursday evening, the latest event in the Fort Hays State University Encore Series.

The Ann Arbor-born fiddler/violinist/composer Jeremy Kittel is backed up by some musical heavy-hitters on his fourth album, "Chasing Sparks," including bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolin masters Chris Thile and Mike Marshall .

Wake Forest University's craze for Cuba will take some unexpected turns on Oct. 13. That's when the Luna Negra Dance Theater of Chicago will perform Eduardo Vilaro's Danzon in Reynolds Auditorium, teaming up with the Turtle Island String Quartet and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera. Danzon "reinvents and reinvigorates traditional and quintessentially ...

"I want to kiss every pixel on your face . . . but you can't do that on a video chat" suggest groove-centric hipsters Eclectica on "Streaming Video Soul," the title track of their sly and snappy debut album, coming out the day before their local gig.

The lead instrument of the Luna Nova Quartet is a mandolin, played by Ben Brussell, who also seems to manage the repertoire.