By Margit Resch
Special to The Island News
Are you one of the lucky people who got to hear — and see — TAKE3 on Fripp Island in the fall of 2023? Three musicians who dazzled both the ears and the eyes of the audience and received such enthusiastic ovations that they played two encores.
Well, two of those fabulous musicians are coming back to Fripp on Sunday, March 1: Lindsay Deutsch, founder of TAKE3, vocalist, violinist, raconteur and gymnast (of sorts), and Jason Stroll, pianist. The duo is adhering to Lindsay’s idea of combining, as she put it, “classical music with music people actually like.” A principle that she applied to the repertoire of TAKE3.
Her duo, too, is cleverly fusing melodies by rock stars of yesteryear like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart with jazz tunes or with songs like Louis Armstrong’s hit “What a Wonderful World,” Willie Nelson’s unforgettable “On the Road Again,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and even with popular hits of today.
Deutsch is an amazing performer in many ways. She sings beautifully, with heart-wrenching elocution. She is an expert on the violin, displaying genre-appropriate versatility, no matter whether it is a classical piece of music, jazz, rock and roll or bluegrass, and her athletic body movements are stunningly expressive. While performing her magic on the violin, she dances, leaps, struts and prances, grimaces, laughs, frowns and otherwise emotes, all in the service of illustrating the music.
“She played like a column of fire – her head thrown back, her body an extension of the instrument,” one reviewer said of her physical stage demeanor.
You will also be mesmerized by her eloquent and humorous narration, when she is explaining the history or meaning of a musical piece or sharing an anecdote. Given her array of talents, it is not surprising that Deutsch is a sought-after musician, that she has traveled all over the world as guest soloist with a number of famous American and Canadian orchestras, that she was selected for NPR’s respected SymphonyCast Program. She even has movie credits, having played the violin soundtrack for “The Good Shepherd,” starring Robert De Niro.
Deutsch made her solo orchestral debut at age 11, playing with the Clear Lake Symphony in Texas. In addition to forging a reputation as a violinist, she won (would you believe) a gold medal in the World Junior Olympic Racquetball Championships in 1997 and was selected to the 2000 U.S. Junior Olympic Racquetball Team. No wonder Deutsch is moving with such elegance and agility on stage.
At age 15 she decided to pursue a musical career. While earning her degree from the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, where she studied with Robert Lipsett, she performed with major orchestras all over North America. She was just 20 years old when she received national attention. No, not for winning in racquetball, not for playing violin (not yet), but because her violin, a 1742 Sanctus Seraphin, valued at $850,000 (on loan from the Mandell Collection of Southern California), had been stolen out of her car. Deutsch offered a $10,000 reward, and the instrument was returned five days later. Currently, she plays on an 1845 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.
Pianist Stroll’s career is equally as impressive as Deutsch’s. He knows how to key his way into your heart.
A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Jason enjoys a multifaceted reputation as concert soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He has also served for several years as educator and piano instructor at the Bronx Conservatory of Music.
As a soloist, he has played with many reputable symphony and chamber orchestras, as well as with a multitude of ensembles, such as trios and quartets known for unique instrumentation and repertoires. He has participated in several prestigious summer music festivals, including the Miami Music Festival, the Pianofest in the Hamptons, the Aspen Music Festival, and in the Adamant Music School Concert Series.
Stroll has successfully participated in several international piano competitions and should be proud of having been named finalist in the 2013 American Paderewski Piano Competition. Stroll consistently charms audiences all over the world with his creative renditions of both classical repertoires and various popular genres, and with an eclectic mixture of all of the above.
Currently, Mr. Stoll is a piano instructor and lecturer at California State University, Northridge, and a freelance pianist, masterclass presenter and adjudicator throughout the Los Angeles area.
The Lindsay and Jason Duo will entertain us at 5 p.m., Sunday, March 1, in the Fripp Island Community Centre at 205 Tarpon Boulevard. But come and join us at 4:30 p.m., when a group of young musicians from a Beaufort school will play and sing their hearts out for us. Both shows are sponsored by Fripp Island Friends of Music and supported by the S.C. Arts Commission.
Tickets at the door are $30 for adults (credit cards accepted). Students are free, thanks to the Peg Gorham Memorial Fund.
Stay after the performance for a complimentary reception, catered deliciously by Harold’s Chef Services, and help us entertain Lindsay and Jason. For more information, go to www.frippfriendsofmusic.com. For FIFOM membership, concert reservations, or questions, contact Rebecca Climer at 615-594-1552.