Born on April 3, 1958, in Encino, CA, Summer grew up in Los Angeles, California, playing piano, guitar and, from the age of nine, cello.
From the beginning, he was very interested in alternative genres, and as a teenager playing in a rock band called The Purple Testament, later known as The Plague.
Shortly after, he was invited by David Balakrishnan and Anger to join Turtle Island, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1985 to perform permanently with the band.
In 2011, Summer made his solo concerto debut with the Alexandria Symphony, performing Balakrishnan's Force of Nature, written especially for him.
[1] He has also arranged pieces for solo cello including "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" and Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing".