by Mike Telin
When it comes to groups whose music combines a myriad of musical styles ranging from classical to pop, jazz to bluegrass, and everything in between, there’s Time for Three, and there’s everybody else. On Wednesday, July 13 Tf3 returned to Northeast Ohio for a concert at Cartwright Hall on the campus of Kent State University, violinists Nikki Chooi and Nicholas (Nick) Kendall and bassist Ranaan Meyer once again proving that nobody does it better than they do. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Musical sparks will fly on Wednesday, July 13 at 7:30 pm when Time for Three, this year’s Kent/Blossom Kulas Guest Artists, will present a free concert at Cartwright Hall on the campus of Kent State University. (Tickets are required and can be reserved by calling 330.672.2787)
In addition to Wednesday’s performance, the band members — violinists Nikki Chooi and Nicholas (Nick) Kendall and bassist Ranaan Meyer — will coach student chamber music ensembles, conduct master classes and workshops, and participate in a Q&A session. “Wherever we go, organizations ask us to talk about the entrepreneurial side of the group,” Ranaan Meyer said during a recent telephone conversation. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
In this day and age it’s not unusual for classically-trained musicians to experiment with and perform music of seemingly unrelated genres. And it’s always interesting to hear how they go about incorporating their classical sensibilities into the works of bands like the Beatles or into bluegrass tunes like “Orange Blossom Special”. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Although they may bill themselves as “the world’s first classically trained garage band,” anyone who has had the good fortune to hear Time for Three, knows they are one of the finest and most innovative ensembles touring today. On Wednesday, October 8 beginning at 7:30 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, violinist Zachary De Pue, violinist Nicolas Kendall and bassist Ranaan Meyer return to Northeast Ohio to open Tuesday Musical’s 2014-15 season. [Read more…]
—a conversation with Mike Telin
Time for Three (photo: Journey Group)
Time for Three premiered Christ Brubeck’s new concerto for two violins, double bass and orchestra with Randall Craig Fleischer and the Youngstown Symphony on March 20. We spoke with the trio by conference call at a radio station in Harrisburg, PA to talk about Time for Three and the new concerto.
Nick: Hi Mike, this is Nick Kendall, one of the violinists.
MT: Yes, we met a couple of weeks ago right after your Oberlin concert.
NK: Yea, that’s right. We have the other guys here as well.
Ranaan Meyer: Hello this is Ranaan, nice to meet you.
MT: Nice to meet you too
Zach De Pue: hello it’s Zach
MT: Hello.
ZDP: You know I lived in Cleveland for a year, and I still have my Browns season tickets.
MT: Do you?
ZDP: Yes I do
MT: Wow you are one of the few who has bothered to keep them.
(lots of laughing) [Read more…]
—a conversation with Mike Telin
On Saturday, March 20, Randall Craig Fleischer conducted the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and Time for Three in Chris Brubeck’s new concerto for two violins, double bass and orchestra. We talked with the composer by telephone about the new piece.
Mike Telin: You are in Ft. Meyers Florida, with the Gulf Coast Orchestra?
Chris Brubeck: Yes, they are doing the piece I wrote called Quiet Heroes. So I am around for advice, and my buddy on this project Wilfred Brimley will be narrating, and it’s a triple bonus because I get to visit my dad. It’s much better for him here than taking the chance of slipping on the ice back in Connecticut where he used to live.
MT: Yes I just read about this piece on your website, in fact you have a number of interesting orchestral projects happening.
CB: Yes, I think they are interesting. I try to do a couple every year, although almost all of my energy during the past year has been focused on the new Time for Three piece. We are at the countdown to its birth, since I started it nine months ago.
MT: Yes, this sounds like a very interesting piece. I know it was an eight-orchestra commission, but who was it that approached you about being the composer?
CB: Well, to me anyway, it is an interesting and funny story. First, I am not sure if you know that I wrote a violin concerto for Nick Kendall, who is one of the three of Time for Three. But, so much credit needs to be giving to Randall Fleischer, the music Director of the Youngstown Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. I’ll tell you the whole story.
[Read more…]