Landmark Concerts presents 3 Leg Torso

One of the most talented, eclectic and inspired bands in Portland, 3 Leg Torso returns to Old St. Peter’s Landmark in historic The Dalles for a performance not to be missed.

3 Leg Torso formed in 1996 as a violin, cello and accordion trio with the mission of creating original modern chamber music for their unique instrumentation. Over the following years, the ensemble has expanded both its musical mission and its size to become a quartet that now performs original compositions based on an eclectic synthesis of chamber music, tango, klezmer, latin, and Roma (Gypsy) music. As principal composers, founding members Béla R. Balogh (violin, trumpet, octave mandolin) and Courtney Von Drehle (accordion, saxophone) provide the core of 3 Leg Torso’s sound. They are joined by the consummate mallets & percussion of T.J. Arko and the gentleman of the acoustic bass, Bill Athens.

The ensemble’s history began with street performances, which they titled Meestering and has led to their releasing three award winning instrumental albums (3 Leg Torso, Astor in Paris, and Animals & Cannibals), East Coast and West Coast Tours, performances with symphony orchestras and a profile on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

The cinematic nature of their music has led to work with many film makers, including Oscar nominated documentary artist Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), three short films with Teller (of Penn & Teller), two short films by Academy Award winning animator Joan Gratz The Dowager’s Feast and The Dowager’s Idyll, scoring With Hope and Help, a UNICEF funded documentary about living with AIDS in Thailand, and a feature in Oscar nominated King of Indie Animation Bill Plympton’s Idiots & Angels. One of the ensemble’s pieces has been used as the theme music for a Bosnian Television series, and the group’s music was also featured in the 2012 National Geographic special Preparing for the Apocalypse.

In 2003, accordionist Courtney Von Drehle was awarded a fellowship at the Sundance Film Composer’s Lab, and in 2010, his work on the Oscar nominated documentary The Final Inch was nominated for an Emmy Award.

3 Leg Torso has a full concert set of arrangements for symphony orchestra, which has brought them together for sold out performances with the Central Oregon Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony, Newport Symphony Orchestra, Beaverton Symphony, Portland Festival Symphony, Pacific Crest Wind Symphony, and Metropolitan Youth Symphony. Composers Balogh and Von Drehle were commissioned to write a full-length piece, Sinfonia Misterioso, to celebrate the Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s 35th anniversary gala concert.

This is a listening event