Reunion of Friends is a one-of-a-kind concert featuring the wide-ranging talents of singer- songwriters-arrangers and entertainers Scott Greeson, Vickie Maris, Michael Kelsey and accordionist Courtney Von Drehle. Emmy nominated composer and multi-instrumentalist Courtney Von Drehle has been working on his particular brand of musical alchemy since 1980. Early projects in hybrid rock music led to collaborations with many modern dancers and the honing of his ability to create music to accompany other media. This has led to numerous commissions for music for film scores, commercials, radio, dance, theater, and performance projects.

In 2003 Courtney was awarded a fellowship at the Sundance Institute to participate in their film composers lab. His film scoring work includes his Emmy nominated score for filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky’­s 2009 Academy Award nominated H.B.O. documentary “The Final Inch”, working with Academy Award winning animator Joan Gratz, and working with multiple award winning short film maker Chel White, amongst others.

In addition to co-leading 3 Leg Torso with the inimitable Béla R. Balogh, Mr.Von Drehle is also a member of the Afro-Hebrew ensemble Klexmocracy, Lezmocracy, a resident composer for Do Jump Theatre, and half of Voniga, a collaborative musical entity with Joe Janiga. VONIGA recently received a 2010 Caldera Artist Residency Grant. Mr. Von Drehle has a B.A. in music from Marylhurst University and has studied North Indian classical singing.

His band, 3 Leg Torso, formed in 1996 as 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 it’s musical mission and it’s size to become a quintet 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 and trumpet) and Courtney Von Drehle (accordion) provide the core of 3 Leg Torso’s sound. They are joined by the mallets/percussion of T.J. Arko and the acoustic bass, Mike Murphy.

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), two short films with Teller (Penn & Teller) two 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. One of the ensemble’s pieces has been used as 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.

For further information:  cvond@teleport.com