Fowler Center Series presents eclectic, genre-bending ensemble, Time for Three

Jan. 8, 2007 -- Arkansas State University’s Fowler Center Series continues on Sunday, January 27, at 3 p.m., when Time for Three takes the stage in Riceland Hall, Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.

Sir Simon Rattle, frequent guest-conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, says of them, “Time for Three is the future of music.” Paul Newman has said, "To hear these three young guys is to be thankful that music was invented.” Time for Three wasfounded in 1999 by three students from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, one of the world’s leading music schools.

According to the CD Baby website, Time for Three invented itself when a lightening-induced power failure at Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performance Arts left technicians struggling to restore onstage lightening. Fellow members of the orchestra urged double bassist Ranaan Meyer and violinist Zachary DePue to jam as a way to keep the audience entertained, and instead of the Beethoven symphony that was scheduled, the audience heard bluegrass and ragtime numbers like “Ragtime Annie,” “Jerusalem’s Ridge,” and “The Orange Blossom Special.”  Joined by violinist Nicholas Kendall, they are Time for Three.

This young, dynamic trio of classically trained string musicians transcends traditional performance genres. In concert, a bluegrass standard like “Orange Blossom Special” may be followed by a gypsy-tinged czardas or one of their own arrangements – be it of Brahms or the Beatles’ “Blackbird.”

Double bassist and composer Ranaan Meyer is a 2003 graduate of the Curtis School of Music, and is also an accomplished jazz musician and teacher, having held professorships at Princeton University and the University of Delaware. Violinist Nick Kendall, a graduate of the Curtis Institute, was the winner of Astral Artistic Services’ 2000 national auditions and a first prize winner of the 2002 Young Concert Artists International auditions. He is also an enthusiastic teacher, conducting popular workshops. Zachary DePue graduated from the Curtis Institute in 2002, where he held the David H. Springman Memorial Fellowship and a merit-based, full-tuition scholarship. DePue’s father is a composer and professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and his brothers are all violinists, one with the Philadelphia Orchestra, one in the University of Texas’ doctoral program, and one is a member of Fiddlers Three, a country band.

Time for Three currently have two available compact discs, their debut disc, “Time for Three,” and the  2006 live cd recorded in Bowling Green, Ohio, “We Just Burned This for You,” with a third release, “Three Fervent Travelers,” scheduled for spring. They have also recorded the soundtrack to the History Channel’s documentary, “The Spanish-American War,” airing nationally this spring. For more information, visit www.timeforthree.com/.

Tickets for all Fowler Center Series events may be purchased by calling 870-972-2781 or 1-888-278-3267, or purchased online at http://tickets.astate.edu. On performance evenings, the box office in Fowler Center opens one hour prior to the event. Ticket prices are $30 and $20 for adults; $23 and $15 for ASU faculty and staff, senior adults, and K-12 students; and $10 and $6 for ASU students. For more information, call Fowler Center at (870)-972-3471.

 

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