Jessica Kelly | Staff Writer
Violinists Nick Kendall and Charles Yang perform and tour with double-bassist Ranaan Meyer as the trio called Time for Three. Since Yang joined the group they have even included vocals in their newest song, which was performed today for the first time. One of their passions is mixing modern and classical music, such as Britney Spears’ “Toxic” with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”
Another passion of Time for Three is outreach programs, something they do frequently with high schools. That is why the trio took time out of their busy schedule to perform for and with the Philharmonic and Symphonic Orchestras.
“Today is a two part visit. For the first thirty minutes they [Time for Three] perform[ed] a little bit for 200 students who are in [the auditorium], and they stop[ped] between pieces for Q and A, and then the orchestra class[es] came on stage and [spent] their orchestra period working through a piece that they are learning that Time for Three plays,” program and communications director for the learning community of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Perry Acctturo said. “We are actually here thanks to the Arts Council of Greater Greenwood. They teamed up with Mallow Run Winery to provide this opportunity to Center Grove High School students.”
The piece that the orchestras worked on with Time for Three, called “Sun Valley Reel,” was mailed to them weeks before. Philharmonic and Symphonic worked on the piece separately in class then joined today to learn from Time for Three.
“It’s a pretty cool piece and it has some stuff that we have not done before, like how we do not do concerts that feature soloists that much,” Will Peck said. “It was just really awesome to get to perform with them because that is not something we have ever done before.”
“We got to learn different ways of practicing music and increasing technique,” Jillian Starr said.
As a modern and inventive orchestra group, some of the students had heard or even seen the trio play before today.
“It was really cool because I have seen them in concert a few times and they have always been really an idol [of mine] and really awesome,” Morgan Perry said. “It was just a really cool experience to get to play with them.”
Band members could not perform with Time for Three because they do not play orchestra instruments, however they did get to attend the concert during STaR. Anyone can learn from dedicated musicians such as Kendall, Yang and Meyer, whether they play an instrument or not.
“I think, even if you don’t play and instrument, hearing a musician at the caliber that we have musicians [at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra] because they’re professionals, hearing them play their instrument one-on-one and talk to you about their journey: there are so many things that are relatable to that, even if you don’t play,” Acctturo said. “I learned so much from taking musicians out to classrooms and watching them present, and I don’t play an instrument, but it helped me appreciate the art form more and I learned so much about things that are transferable to anything.”
Find out what she is talking about when Time for Three plays at Hilbert Circle Theater, September 15. Doors open at 5:00 pm and the concert starts at 6:30 pm.
Collaborators: Jessica Kelly, Bailee Leathers, Zach Peters and Akul Vijayvargiya
