Gabriel Swersie
Newton
There are only three words needed to review the performance by the International String Trio at the Newton Senior High School’s auditorium Sunday afternoon; they killed it. They killed it. I have come to expect a certain level of entertainment from the Allied Concert Services series and this trio does not disappoint. The Trio’s playing has a coffee shop comfort with Carnegie Hall virtuosity.
The International String Trio, like many of the Allied series musicians, come from around the world. Guitarist and musical director Slava Tolstoy is from St. Petersburg, Russia. Jakub Trasek, violin, and Ippei Ichimaru, acoustic bass and ukulele, are from Prague in the Czech Republic and Tokyo, Japan respectively. Also, like other Allied series musicians, the Trio have honed their musical skills.
What marks the International String Trio is the accessibility. Their playlist includes traditional American folk music and country like Charlie Daniels and John Denver to the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. They played several European jazz pieces from Russia, Eastern Europe, Ireland And even played a tango, "La Cumparsita," from Argentina that my five year old recognized. While, the musical influence is from many corners of the globe, the International String Trio tied them all together in way that each song's disparate origin was a piece of a greater whole. There was, simply, no piece that felt like out of place; no piece felt contrived or shoehorned in.
They killed it.
Of course, there is still more to come from the Jasper County Concert association and the Allied Concert Services. JCCA is hosting a bonus concert of "Cinderella" with the Des Moines Metro Opera March 12. The JCCA season finale on April 25, The Piano Men by Jim Witter features the music of Billy Joel and Elton John. Please, visit jasperconcert.homestead.com for more information.