His piece, “Spider Dreams” (1992), has been widely performed and recorded throughout the world by a diverse array of musical organizations, including a live recording by Turtle Island with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi on Chandos Records. A 2002 commission awarded by a consortium of presenters headed by the Lied Center of Kansas City resulted in a string octet entitled “Mara’s Garden Of False Delights,” which is featured on Turtle Island Quartet’s Grammy winning Telarc release, “4 plus Four.” His most recent commission is again from the Lied Center, who received a Creative Campus grant from the Duke foundation, for which Balakrishnan is composing a full-length work involving theatre, dance, video, and Turtle Island with the KU wind ensemble that is an artistic response to the social issues concerning the various theories of evolution, both scientific and cultural, entitled “The Tree Of Life.” Trishula, for violin and symphony orchestra  Groove In The Louvre, for guitar, string quartet and string orchestra  The Second Wave, for guitar and string octet  Confetti Man, for String Orchestra  Darkness Dreaming, for violin, two guitars and Chamber Orchestra  Mara’s Garden Of False Delights, for string octet  InterPlay for Mandolin Quartet and Violin  Concertino For Jazz Violin And Orchestra: Little Mouse Jumps  Spider Dreams, seven movements for jazz string orchestra  The Iron Fist Of Fashion, two movements for string quartet and big band