Arte Musica performs in ORCMA concert on Sunday

Arte Musica, a crossover band consisting of Rudolph Nemeth on piano, Wade Darnell on banjo, and Travis Witherington on bass, will perform at the ORCMA Coffee Concert at 7:30 p.m. April 22.

The trio will be performing a variety of music styles, but will focus on original compositions. This free concert at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is open to the public.

For more information, please visit http://www.orcma.org/concerts/coffee-concerts/.

Here is a biography of Arte Musica:

The group Arte Musica was inspired by banjo player Wade Darnell, who introduced his banjo skills to his piano professor Rudolph Nemeth. They started to play together and later invited another of Rudolph’s piano students, Travis Witherington, who is also a double bassist. All three have a classical music background in addition to other genres like bluegrass, jazz, folk, and rock.

Their performances include original songs written by all three of them, arrangements of classical compositions, and other genres. “We like to play music that has everything in it—including fun,” claim the players. Their concert at the Unitarian Church will include all the genres mentioned, and they promise a great fusion and crossover of musical styles.

Rudolph Nemeth is a native of Slovakia, where his fondness for American jazz and pop music was discouraged by the Communist regime. Rudolph and his family braved some tough times to make their home in the United States in order to enjoy the freedom of musical expression.

Rudolph holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, music history, languages, performance, and technical production of music.

In the beginning of his career, Rudolph performed, arranged, and composed music for theater, radio, television, and film. Over the years, he has recorded numerous pop songs and instrumental compositions, and he has broadcasted nationwide on radio and television. He has arranged and recorded over 50 TV shows with rearranged folk music to pop styles for various vocalists, and he has performed original songs at music festivals with various orchestras and bands around his native country, as well as in Norway and Germany. Rudolph also has won numerous awards at international music festivals.

Upon arrival in the United States, Rudolph performed in several concerts in a father-and-son piano duo with his son Rudy. Together they recorded music for A&E and HGTV.

He currently composes, arranges, produces, and also performs for different occasions. He is adjunct professor of piano and music appreciation at Roane State Community College, he teaches piano with Music Arts and privately, and he has been the organist at Robertsville Baptist Church for many years.

 He has released several albums of his own music such as “Citizen of the world”, “Romantic Christmas”, “Favorites of Robertsville Baptist Church”, and “The Castle”.

Rudolph also enjoys working with other artists to produce their musical projects.

Native Oak Ridger Wade Darnell began playing banjo at age 13. After playing in various bluegrass bands and performing on local radio and television stations, he was employed at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee, as a musician. Soon he began to experiment with jazz, blues, and rock, which allowed him to expand the banjo’s possibilities. He also incorporated elements of classical music into his playing, which led to the opportunity to transcribe and perform one of his original compositions with the Oak Ridge Youth Symphony Orchestra.

After attending several of Rudolph Nemeth’s music courses at Roane State Community College, Wade and Rudolph built a repertoire that featured banjo and piano. Rudolph introduced Wade to bassist Travis Witherington, and the trio formed the band Arte Musica.

Travis Witherington grew up in Oak Ridge. He started playing the violin in the 4th grade but decided to switch to the string bass in the 7th grade because he liked its deeper tone.

For the next seven years, he studied under Dan Thompson, a bassist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. He attended Duquesne University School of Music for two semesters where he studied under Micah Howard, adjunct professor and double bassist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

He continues to study and play the double bass with the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra.