Taking some time for three

The Center for Faith and Life was filled with vitality brought by string trio Time for Three Nov. 20. Self-described as “a classically trained garage band,” they have brought a number of different music styles together in order to create their own. Not only was their music unique, but they also managed to get the audience involved in their performance with their personality and charisma.

The Performing Arts Committee thought it was important to bring Time for Three because they believed the group would appeal to Luther students, because a classically trained combo that plays non-classical music would fit with the college’s musical culture.

In order to integrate Time for Three’s spirit within the Luther student body, the trio had a short performance during lunchtime at Oneota Market and gave students a chance to talk to them.

“It’s a great way for students to come up and meet them and actually get to talk to them about how their journey’s been and about how they got to where they are now,” PAC President Martha Beggerly (‘10) said.

The musicians seemed to successfully fit into the Luther community and had some animated conversations with students.

Time for Three’s eclectic musical style is difficult to describe.

“They are fun and high-energy and outside the box,” Director of Campus Programming Tanya Gertz said. “They have string instruments, but they do things we don’t always hear string instruments do. They are not quite classical, and they are not quite bluegrass, and they are not quite fiddlers, and they are not quite contemporary crossover classical. They are taking a unique group of instruments, two violins and a bass, and creating an outside-of-the-box music.”

The group surprised and, at the same time, amazed an audience who didn’t know what to expect from them. Throughout the performance they made people laugh, clap and hum, which isn’t common in a CFL performance.

“We are focused on human tendencies with our music in a way that we all know the point of what we are doing,” Time for Three violinist Zachary De Pue said. “We all know the point of the music we are playing, the story behind it, the emotions that it’s supposed to give out. We talk about these things verbally so that the three of us can get on the same page as long as what our goal is.”

This trio played a high-quality performance, which kept the audience engaged through the entire concert.

“The whole time I was just really excited,” Kirsten Jacobson (‘11) said.

Time for Three received a positive response from their audience and, as musicians who may be role models to some Luther students, they decided to leave some words of wisdom.

“If you work hard and you keep an open mind to things then you can make anything happen in any way that you want,” violinist Nick Kendall said. “We’ve definitely discovered in this group that there’s no one right way of doing anything.”