Third Wheel

What I’ve been listening to…The Goat Rodeo Sessions.  This album is such a lovely blend of high art and boundary-pushing creativity. The music of this collaboration draws upon the structures and forms of bluegrass music if only loosely. It is at once technically virtuosic, lush, lazy, playful and beautiful.

The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a project developed by world renowned musicians Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Chris Thile, mandolin/fiddle/guitar/gamba/vocals; Edgar Meyer, bass/gamba/piano; and Stuart Duncan, fiddle/mandolin/fretless banjo.  All the music on this album was written by Thile, Meyer and Duncan.  One of my favorite instrumental tracks is “Where’s my bow?”  Who knows, you might here it arranged for Third Wheel in the future.  These gifted musicians are joined on two tracks by vocalist Aoife O’Donovan who also co-wrote my next favorite track “Here and Heaven”.

“Things can fall apart, or threaten to, for many reasons, and then there’s got to be a leap of faith. Ultimately, when you’re at the edge, you have to go forward or backward; if you go forward, you have to jump together.” Yo-Yo Ma

Check out this video of “Here and Heaven”: Here and Heaven

Yes, you read that right — not that super cool indie band TV on the Radio, but TW on the Radio!.

In case you missed it, the ladies of Third Wheel were guests on KUSC‘s Arts Alive program with Brian Lauritzen on September 17, 2011. You can listen to our lovely voices here: http://www.kusc.org/artsalive/

Or, if you want, check out this transcribed version below and learn a little bit more about what it really means to be Third Wheel.

Arts Alive broadcast:  September 17, 2011  8 a.m.

Host Brian Lauritzen

BL: Long gone are the days of posting an ad for a musician in the local free newspaper or on campus bulletin boards. Bassoonist Rebecca Rivera made a connection with local woodwind ensemble Third Wheel and its flutist Karin Kantenwein through her Facebook page. The two musicians had crossed paths while students at USC.

RR: At the beginning of the year, I joined Facebook, and I made a bassoon page, and put some recordings up, and wanted to be able to connect with other players I had met in the freelance world, and so I became friends with Karin again, and then she contacted me about possibly playing some chamber music, seeing if it would be a good fit, and we had a really nice time.

BL: Rivera replaces bassoonist Rich Ramberg who formed the group with flutist Kantenwein and clarinetist Adrienne Geffen in 2007. Their aim is to perform new music that doesn’t get a lot of airplay, and to present pieces that borrow from the musical language of jazz, folk and rock. Rivera says the digital language comes in handy when communicating with contemporary composers.

RR: There are composers that are friends, people that we know, and also people all around the country.  So you can email them, send them clips. For the last concert that we did we were able to do some videos of coachings with the composers and ask them questions about articulations. And it’s a really neat experience, especially when my background is primarily doing orchestral repertoire and not a lot of contemporary music, so it’s a neat experience to learn new techniques on the instrument too.

BL: The group also curates a concert series known as Wine & Wheels – a casual concert experience that mixes wine and food with music. It starts up again October 2^nd with the Vientos Trio on the bill. Flutist Karin Kantenwein says the series allows them to bridge the gap between new music and standard repertoire.

KK: So we can take our audiences through an experience, and that experience is maybe a lot of our repertoire that’s standard for a trio – a lot of people don’t know. You know, composers like Muczynski and Peeters and Schickele and some of those. So we bring those pieces to our concert, and then plus we bring in new music by friends of ours and local LA people as well.

BL: Composers outside of LA are starting to seek out the group as well. Clarinetist Adrienne Geffen:

AG: The Wine & Wheels performance that we had last June, we premiered a piece by Kyle Hovatter, a composer from up in Northern California. And he found us on YouTube. He watched some of our videos and liked our sound, liked what we were doing, contacted us, and wrote a piece for us.

BL: The all-female group will perform a program of music by women composers today at 3 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University in Irvine, thanks in part to a grant from the organization New York Women Composers. Clarinetist Adrienne Geffen says it’s opportunities like these that get the group really excited.

AG: I think one of the biggest things why we started Third Wheel was to create our own opportunities. You know, as young musicians just having finished school, we didn’t want to wait around for the phone call to come for the big gig. So we realized that if we got together, we could really make something ourselves and have our own voice.

BL: Third Wheel performs at the Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University in Irvine today at 3 p.m. Their Wine & Wheels series starts October 2^nd at Fancifull Gift Baskets and Fine Foods, in Hollywood. For more information, visit thirdwheeltrio.com.

Third Wheel had quite an eventful week.

Rather than blab on about it, I think it would be much better to post an array of photos that we took throughout the week.

Adventure #1:  Interview at KUSC!

In case you missed it, we were featured on KUSC 91.5′s Arts Alive program this week. What fun! You can listen to the interview here: http://www.kusc.org/artsalive/ . Check out the September 17, 2011, episode!

Karin and Rebecca just outside the KUSC studio.

Rebecca and Adrienne at the KUSC studios. See those cabinets on the left? That's where they keep all the CDs of all the amazing music they play on the air!

All of the Third Wheel ladies at KUSC!

Ooooh, pretty logo.

Adventure #2: Heels & Wheels

The big event we were promoting on the radio was Heels & Wheels, a fun concert that we performed on Saturday afternoon.  Funded in part by a grant from New York Women Composers, the performance featured an entire program of music written by women. We had a lot of fun, and we wore fancy heels!  Here’s some of the before, during, and after photos:

You could say our quarters backstage were just a tad bit cramped.

This is me pretending not to be anxious. Just start the show already!

What a fabulous collection of heels!

Here we are onstage at the beautiful Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University. It was a beautiful day outside!

At the end of the day, the heels just have to come off!

So there you have it, just a normal weekend in the life of Third Wheel!  Whew!

And we’re not done yet.  Today we performed on our friend Mark Popeney‘s doctoral recital at USC, this week we’re performing at Pacific Symphony‘s opening night gala celebration, and then in just two weeks, we kick off the Wine & Wheels concert series!  Stay tuned here for more info, more photos, and more fun!!

Last Friday, Third Wheel was invited to perform at a wonderful event in Redondo Beach. (No, it wasn’t on the sand next to the crashing waves, but it was still lovely!)

Adrienne, Cameron and Karin after a performance in Redondo Beach

The event was the Concert for the Arts, put on by the Friends of Redondo Beach Arts.  And what friends they are!  In a unique twist, the audience was seated onstage and the entire setup was reversed — the performers faced the back wall, and the audience faced out into the beautiful, empty theater of the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.  We had the honor of sharing the program with several other fantastic artists, including poets and a very young pianist. There was artwork displayed in the lobby, and the Friends hosted a reception after the show. For us as performers, that’s usually our favorite part! Not just because we are almost always hungry and thirsty after a performance, but also because it is such a great chance to be able to meet members of the audience just like you. We love finding out what was their favorite piece, hearing about their love for music, and just making a connection.

Cameron Domingues was our bassoonist for the evening, and she did a great job.  Karin and I have known Cameron for a number of years, and we were glad to get a chance to play with her. You can meet Cameron and find out a little more about her in this fun backstage interview:

Thanks to everyone at the Friends of Redondo Beach Arts for asking us to be part of this evening, we really did have a blast! You are such gracious hosts and truly assembled a great program. Our favorite of the night was the Brazilian group Samba Society, and while all members of the group were incredibly talented and energetic, this percussionist that you see here was just the most fun to watch. This is why we play music — it makes us feel good, it makes us happy, and it makes us want to DANCE!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out for last week’s Second Annual Wine & Wheels. We had such a great time! We are always blown away by the wine and food selections from Fancifull – can’t get enough of those chocolate-covered cherries! Wally, Terri and their staff are so fantastic and are always so warm, hospitable and knowledgeable.

This year, we were delighted to have three composers in the audience, and I think everyone would agree that having them there to introduce their music added so much to the performance.

Jenni Brandon took us into the daily life of a spider in her charming “Spider Suite,” Seth Shafer gave us a flowing glimpse in “Water, Flowing Upwards,” and Adrienne Albert took us on a seaside holiday in “Menage a Trio.” They are all such lovely people and we are so grateful to them for their artistry.

Rebecca Rivera, Adrienne Geffen and Karin Kantenwein with composers Adrienne Albert and Jenni Brandon after a great performance at Wine & Wheels 2011!

If you want to see just a hint of the beautiful music you missed, check out this video — it’s the final movement of Adrienne Albert’s “Menage a Trio.”

Other fantastic composers that we featured throughout the program, but weren’t able to join us, were Kyle Hovatter (who you met in our YouTube interview!), James Taylor, Paquito D’Rivera, Paul Hanson, Catherine McMichael, and Allan Blank.

You might even say that we had such a good time at this concert that we’re just going to have to do it again. You’re right! But more on that topic later.

After the concert, in classic Third Wheel style, we retired to our favorite British pub in Hollywood, the Cat and Fiddle. Refreshing merriment and delicious food for all!! 

Special thanks to Rebecca Rivera for performing with us on this concert. She did a fabulous job and was so much fun to work with!

Check out some exclusive rehearsal footage, and get a sneak preview of what’s in store for this weekend’s Wine & Wheels!

Meet composer Kyle Hovatter, and find out why he was interested in writing a new composition for Third Wheel:

Take a listen to Adrienne Albert’s piece, “Menage a Trio,” and find out more about her writing process:

And finally, what on earth are these girls doing?!?

There’s only one way to find out … come to Wine & Wheels on Sunday!

You can make a reservation online here, or call 323.466.7654.  Doors open at 3:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 4 p.m. The program will feature world premieres from Kyle Hovatter and Seth Shafer, along with the music of living (and women!) composers Adrienne Albert, Jenni Brandon and Catherine McMichael. Don’t forget the sophisticated wine tasting from Fancifull Gift Baskets with plenty of delicious snacks to go along with the music.

Have you heard of PKD? It’s polycystic kidney disease, and you should know about it.  Take a minute to do some reading here: Polycystic Kidney Disease.  Third Wheel was honored to be asked to perform at a recent PKD Foundation event — an evening of wine tasting and silent auction called “Sip & Savor.”

What a fun evening! Scott and Jana Harvey were there and provided all the wine (Scott Harvey and Jana Wines) for the evening, and gave a lovely presentation about their winery. It’s always wonderful to meet the people behind a product, especially when they are so passionate about what they do.

The event organizers did such a great job of putting together an elegant party. (Hiring Third Wheel is always a great decision!) One element of a great party these days is having a photobooth. In almost every circumstance, this is a brilliant idea and gives a fun memento to all the guests. (The folks from Souverazzi did a great job!) Here’s where they made a mistake, though — they actually let Third Wheel use the photobooth. Bad idea. Mass silliness ensued, and way too much photographic evidence. (Please also note that there was no wine involved here! We are consummate professionals, despite what this looks like.)

Here are just a few of the gems from our photo fun. If you want to see the whole album, check it out on our Facebook page. (Have you “liked” us yet??)

Any of you who have come to our concerts know that we have a few favorite pieces in our repertoire — and we think you all do, too. One of those pieces is written by Robert Muczynski, and it’s called “Fragments.” It has a lot of variety in it, and each of the five movements is relatively short. That’s why they’re fragments. Anyway, last week, we had the opportunity to perform at a gallery opening at the beautiful Huntington Library in San Marino.

There's Karin at the Huntington Library, just before we play at the opening of the John Frame exhibit

We were so excited when we arrived to find that the name of the exhibit we were playing for was called “Three Fragments of a Lost Tale”! Something we all understand very well.  The exhibit is by John Frame, and you can read more about it here. It’s quite fascinating the way that he interweaves several elements into his work — sculpture, photography, and then he puts everything together in a stop-motion animation film. So that’s just one of the amazing perks of our job here at Third Wheel — we get to check out great art exhibits and play great music! We always enjoy the crowd at the Huntington, too. They are so interested in what we’re doing and they love to ask questions about the pieces we’re playing, the composers, our instruments, etc. Too much fun.

In a bustling musical city like Los Angeles, we do not work in a bubble. The musical community is very small and close-knit — especially the community of chamber music ensembles. We’d like to spend some time introducing you to some of our musical friends who we meet out on the performance trail. This week: Vientos Trio.

The Vientos Trio has been on our radar for quite some time. I first met the group’s oboist, Ryan Zwahlen, when we playing the Nutcracker together a few years ago. He and I kept in touch, and when it ended up that we both had woodwind trios, we knew we had to keep track of one another!

Now, Vientos is very different from Third Wheel in a lot of ways, but of course we have all of the important things in common: wonderful musicians, fun personalities, innovative performances, and a dedication to playing music written by living composers.

The fact that Vientos uses an oboe instead of a flute is the biggest obvious difference, and it makes a big difference in the group’s sound. (The other two members of the group play clarinet and bassoon, just like Third Wheel.) Having three instruments together that all use reeds of some kind allows for a homogeneous sound that is truly unique.

The clarinetist for Vientos, Jennifer Stevenson, is also a talented composer. Her creative streak goes much farther than just writing music, however; she also has a gift for storytelling and often incorporates these stories into her compositions. This is a perfect skill for the performances that Vientos does for young audiences. They’re called Musical Adventures and they do a wonderful job of teaching kids about music while entertaining them with fun stories. Here’s one from the “Dunley Rabbit, PI” series:

But Jennifer’s sense of whimsy doesn’t just apply to children. She’s great with concocting music stories for adults, too. Check out this performance to see what I mean — it’s a hilarious piece called “Obois Domesticus.”

Third Wheel has shared many performances venues with the Vientos Trio, just not at the same time. We frequently find ourselves on the listing of the same concert series but rarely actually get to meet. We hope to invite the Vientos Trio to perform on a concert with us in the very near future! What’s the good of having musical friends if you can’t share a stage every now and then?