Tim Kampen moved to Nashville, Tennessee from St. Louis to pursue his dreams of playing contemporary and jazz cello, where his playing was quickly featured on PBS as a solo cellist in Belmont Strings. He studied in Tracy Silverman’s Jazz String Quartet for three years, where he became influenced by upright bass and applied techniques learned in Turtle Island String Quartet arrangements. After becoming principal of the Belmont Symphony Orchestra, he played in the Nashville Philharmonic for a year, enhancing his classical skills. Tim’s contemporary styles were sought out by Barrage 8 for the 2016-2017 U.S. tour. Tim was then selected to be one of two cellists to play in Nanjing, China with the Hollywood Film Music Orchestra for principal touring conductor of La La Land, Erik Ochsner. Tim is now tuning his cello down, pioneering a new instrument, Cellola, which he plays while leading the touring “percussive string quartet”, REignite. REignite tells a story through music that infuses a live original soundtrack in three movements, synced with a motion picture. The goal of this group is to inspire an audience to question their own journey in life through this Symphonic Film, crossing cultures through the universal language of music.