The School of Music is welcoming the musical group PROJECT Trio to campus as part of the Guest Artist Series. They will be performing in the Kresge Auditorium Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
PROJECT Trio is a three-man chamber music ensemble from Brooklyn, N.Y., that often mixes classical music with an assortment of other musical styles. Dean of the School of Music Mark McCoy has previously seen the band perform and considers them accomplished, young musicians who will appeal to all DePauw students.
"It's a wide variety of music that they play, and they always put their own spin on it," said McCoy, who particularly noted the beat-boxing flute player. "They're fun to see on a video, they're fun to hear on a recording, but it's nothing like seeing them live."
Professor of Music Eric Edberg commented that PROJECT Trio is an especially great model for students who are looking for ways to stand out in the music industry.
"I'm really excited to have PROJECT here because they are an example of a young group that is doing innovative things that are reaching new audiences," Edberg said. "They are very original in their programming."
Senior Orlando Ramirez agrees that PROJECT Trio's success and originality is an inspiration.
"For classical musicians, it [PROJECT Trio's music] kind of gives us that idea that you can do much more than reading what's off the page," Ramirez said. "It's refreshing."
Along with their concert Wednesday evening, PROJECT Trio will perform and talk to the students of the School of Music at the morning recital hour. They will also be doing a short performance at the Hub during the lunch hour before going to Greencastle Middle School to announce the School of Music's adoption of the middle school's music program.
The Guest Artist Series is part of a new initiative to reach out to the College of Liberal Arts and the community of Greencastle. The Series will host four guest group performances and two performances by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra throughout the year. PROJECT Trio is the first Series performance of the school year. Dr. McCoy emphasizes that the bands selected for the series are intended to attract both the School of Music and CLA students.
"We want this to become a DePauw thing," Dr. McCoy said of the series. "It's really designed as a way to bring us all together and to get every student fired up about music at DePauw."
Ramirez also has high hopes that this first show of the series will bring in a variety of students.
"It gives people the chance to see that classical music can be fun, and out-of-the-box, out of the ordinary."