The Boerne performing arts series continues on Tuesday and I caught up with one of the performers, Zachary De Pue from the band Time for Three, a band whose music is difficult to classify. De Pue said all the members attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
“And we met there and jammed together outside of our classical studies and training," he said. "Each one of us, in addition to classical music, had a background in different styles.”
He said the jamming was fun, but it took the proverbial lightning bolt moment to bring them together permanently. One night when two of them were playing with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and a lightning strike took out power, management asked a simple question:
“ 'Can somebody do something to hold the audience here?' So we played our first tune and the audience freaked out," said De Pue. "And so we looked to the backstage area and they were lik, ‘Just keep going!’ "
They played about 40 minutes to an audience expecting Beethoven’s Ninth but according to De Pue instead got “Bluegrass, gypsy fiddling.” Thus was born Time for Three, a disciplined, yet improvisational trio.
“There’s a structure to everything we do, and then there’s a freedom within that structure” said De Pue.
They’ve played together for 14 years, all while doing other projects. De Pue is also the concert master for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and his target is attracting young people to the symphony.
“There’s a generational gap of people that haven’t necessarily been able to experience the breadth and the amazing qualities of a symphony orchestra,” De Pue said.
They’ve gotten quite creative in attracting them, said De Pue, by putting together disparate music like this.
“Katy Perry’s 'Firework' bridged with Igor Stravinsky’s 'Firebird Suite,' ” De Pue said.
Time for Three is coming to Boerne on Tuesday night.
- More about the show at: www.boerneperformingarts.com
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