When the sound of several bowls, cookwares, percussions, piano, and violin combined at “Varied Trio,” a musical performance by three premiere chamber musicians on Sunday at Harvey Mudd College’s Drinkward Recital Hall, the result was a surprisingly beautiful sound.
Assorted percussion instruments littered the stage, but it was the bowls and cookware that caught my eye. Yuri Inoo, a percussion performer, explained that each bowl represents a single note. As she plays, she aims to strike a balance between light and heavy tones.
The group’s name, Varied Trio, was inspired by the famous arrangement of instruments.
“We all particularly love this piece [‘Varied Trio’],” Shalini Vijayan, the violin performer in Varied Trio, said.
The concert opened with Paul Dresher’s piece, “Double Ikat, Part Two.”
According to Aron Kallay, piano performer and a member of performance faculty at Pomona College, the melody of this song was faster than the subsequent three pieces because the performers wanted to find the balance of pace of the whole performance.
Kelley added that there is a limited amount of time for performers to learn an entire new program.
“‘Varied Trio’ is a great piece we played 18 times — we knew that we [had] to put it on the program,” Kelley said.
Eric Forston, audience member and percussion student from the University of Redlands, was struck by how all the instrument sounds came together.
“I have seen how many different ways all these three instruments can work together and make things as a whole,” Fortson said.
During the reception, Kallay gave advice to the music students. He recommended that music students practice playing in public, since the sound of a piece can change between the practice room and the stage.
“Students just need to put themselves in different uncomfortable situations [and] play as much as possible,” Kallay said. “That is the quickest way to get better.”