On Nov. 13 at lunch, a trio of brass instrumentalists played a short concert in the Creative Arts Center. The instrumentalists, Jess Rodda, originally from Australia, who has played the tuba since she was seventeen, Gabe Cruz, the trombonist, who was born in Alameda, California, and Jeff Dittemer, who is originally from Canada and plays the horn, each brought their unique talents together from all across the United States to form a cohesive group.

The three met at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and are all currently enrolled as students. “We [have] arranged a heap of pop and jazz tunes because that’s what we like to play,” Rodda said. As a brass group who plays both chamber and popular music (such as “New York, New York”), the trio certainly goes against the musical norm. “They chose to play quite a few, jazzy and modern pieces, but they clearly approached it from a classical training, which was a refreshing change from normal music performances at Menlo,” orchestra student Amanda McFarland, who went to the lunchtime concert, said.

However, the trio’s unique choices of music are exactly what brought the group to Menlo. The trio performed at lunch to inspire young artists at Menlo to pursue their musical talents and alter them to fit their personal music tastes. In order to encourage her students to get exposure to a variety of music, orchestra conductor Vicky Greenbaum required her students to attend, and it worked. “Their performance definitely inspired me to try and mix new styles of music,” McFarland said.