Philadelphia string trio overwhelms Quick Center

Philadelphia string-trio Time for Three performed last Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The group is comprised of three performers: violinists Zach de Pue and Nick Kendall and double-bassist Ranaan Meyer.

The band fuses the classical stylings of Bach with the music of modern pop musicians like Justin Timberlake. They have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and have been featured on CNN and Huffington Post for their anti-bullying YouTube video, “Stronger” [Watch Below].

http://youtu.be/OG3YOa9vIt8

At the beginning of the show, a program was handed out detailing the songs that might appear in the performance. The band determines the setlist minutes before their show, so audiences are kept on their toes to hear what the group chose.

“We try to remember the setlist that we all agree on and if not we just remind each other on stage,” commented de Pue, laughing.

During their invigorating first set, which included an intricate cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” the trio introduced themselves as tf3, mentioning how they met at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. The trio described creating these elaborate pieces of music and the generation of their “musical sandbox,” which is their workplace of ideas that incorporates music of both past and present.

Time for Three is able to breathe new life into classical music with their “musical sandbox,” evident with their collaboration of Igor’s “Firebird” and Katy Perry’s “Firework.” As the intensity of the music increases, they lean up against one another, sharing the vivacious energy that is flowing through their fingertips. Each note is met with a movement of the body that becomes irresistible to watch.

When the trio ended their last set, the crowd was too energized to sit down and hollered until the trio walked offstage. Minutes later, they came back onstage to tune their instruments and play one final encore. “And that is called encore tuning,” said Meyer, jokingly.

The performance was breathtaking and exhumed an energy that is not found by most musicians in this day and age. Time for Three will surely become a musical staple as they progressively hone their virtuosity.