Time for Three blends styles
Trio to perform in 2 concerts as festival series winds down
They've saved the biggest name for last: Tony Bennett will perform at the final pops concert Saturday night.
Prior to the big finale, Time for Three will be the guest chamber artists Thursday at St. Mary's Church in Park City. And associate conductor David Cho will conduct "Symphonie Fantastique" and Time for Three in an orchestral program on Friday.
In a telephone interview, violinists Zachary De Pue and Nick Kendall and double bassist Ranaan Meyer — the members of Time for Three — explained what they do and how they met.
"We all went to school at the Curtis Institute of Music here at Philadelphia, a very high-level classical-music school," said Meyer. "And late at night, after we were done with our classes, and our rehearsals, and practicing, we would get together and just jam. It was so much fun."
De Pue brought fiddle tunes and Kendall brought gypsy tunes, and before long, they had their own unique blend of styles, Meyer said.
Eventually, they played a gig for a corporate event a few hours outside of Philadelphia. The audience, he said, loved it — and loved the trio because they were having so much fun on stage.
Members of Time for Three still love what they do. And Meyer said they're especially excited about playing with the Utah Symphony.
"This year alone, we played 120 concerts in 32 states," he said. Most of them are in chamber settings, so "I feel like it's very fresh when we play with orchestras."
The orchestral program, said Kendall, will consist of original music written by Meyer. "(The pieces) sort of draw upon the different genres that make up American folk music. So there are hints of bluegrass, there are hints of spiritual music, and there are hints of Appalachian, old-style fiddling, as well as European influences, kind of all blended into one thing."
The pieces, he says, are structured to allow space for improvisation. "It allows us to kind of be three personalities on our instruments in an orchestral setting that is very different than what is out there today," he said.
The chamber music program on Thursday also will be mostly original music, mixed with popular music arranged a la Time for Three.
For example, said Kendall, he and De Pue used to play Bach's concerto for two violins — but then Meyer came along and put a swing-jazz line behind it, and they sped it up to twice the tempo that Bach intended.
"We also have a wonderful rendition of 'Blackbird' by the Beatles that we put together several years ago."
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