By Vanessa Bordo, Tuesday Musical

On Friday, February 11, 2011 at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday Musical Association and the Akron Art Museum presented the latest installment of their FUZE! Concert Series. The collaboration is an ongoing program dedicated to bringing together different artistic styles and audiences. Tuesday Musical describes the series as “cutting-edge performances by classically trained musicians fusing standard repertoire and works by contemporary composers.”

Akron Beacon Journal arts columnist Kerry Clawson described the sold out performance as a “hip chamber” experience. The ensemble, entitled Three Part Invention, truly redefines the notion of the piano trio. Violinist Tracy Silverman, pianist Philip Aaberg and cellist Eugene Friesen break all the pretenses of classical performance conventions.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Knight Foundation, education outreach is an important element of the FUZE! Series and Tracy took his electric violin to one of Akron’s Middle Schools. Tracy was perfect with these students – over 400 attended – and the allocated hour wasn’t nearly long enough. The next morning Tracy and pianist Phil went to a high school and, again, the hour could have been extended to two.

Many of the students were on stage after the outreach session and sophomore Aaron Eckhardt told Tracy that “you have truly inspired me to broaden my musical instrument vocabulary. I am very interested in learning violin now, because you brought a more modern sound to the violin and I absolutely love it!…I hope to someday be as inspiration and (as) outgoing as you.” Tracy and Phil then spent another hour and a half with university students.

The venue for the evening performance was great – the Akron Art Museum’s intimate 160-seat house. The FUZE! concerts begin at 6:30 and last only one hour. During the performance, the musicians engaged and laughed with the audience, grooved as they played, and generally rocked out to their reinvented version of Bach’s classic pieces.

Ms. Clawson noted, “This affable trio regaled the audience with everything from the dramatic Seduction (Three-Part Invention No. 15)…to the mellow groove of the bossa nova-style Air on a Six String (from Suite No. 3 for Strings).”

Audience members of all ages were entranced by the soulful, passionate, and often joyous vibe emanating from the stage. The use of a one-of-a-kind six stringed viola of sorts offered a depth of sound and character to a selection of the pieces that touched some of the younger students in attendance.

The absence of stiff convention continued after the concert as the trio members mingled with audience members in the lobby of the art museum. Still in concert blazers and jeans, the musicians chatted their new fans with palpable enthusiasm for their project.

Funded partially by a grant from the Knight Foundation, the FUZE! concert series continued on March 4th with a concert by the Alfredo Rodriguez Jazz Trio.

The April 14th concert will feature ETHEL with Native American Flutist Robert Mirabal.