The trio Time For Three finds a special affinity with the music of Kevin Puts

In the classical-music canon, there’s no established body of work for a distinctive ensemble like Time For Three, a trio whose members perform on both strings and vocals to create a sound that bridges classical, Americana and indie singer-songwriter genres. So, there’s a special magic that occurs when a contemporary composer truly understands the trio’s style and writes a tailor-made piece for the ensemble.

Time For Three — consisting of double bassist Ranaan Meyer and violinists Nick Kendall and Charles Yang — has experienced this synergy in two major collaborations with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, an artist they admire so much that they’ve fondly nicknamed him “Heaven Puts.” The composer’s first work for the trio, a concerto titled Contact, won 2023 Grammy Awards for best classical instrumental solo and best contemporary classical composition in its world-premiere recording titled “Letters for the Future” (Deutsche Grammophon) with the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Xian Zhang.

“He really is championing this kind of sound, and we’ve really become one of his colors, which we’re so proud of, but also so honored [by] him,” Yang said in a recent interview. 

The ensemble’s latest project with Puts, Emily – No Prisoner Be, also features mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world’s leading opera stars and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2025/26 Artist-in-Residence. The 24-movement work, which sets to music the poetry of Emily Dickinson, premiered in August 2025 at the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria; a studio recording will be released by the record label Platoon on Jan. 30. As part of their inaugural U.S. tour, DiDonato and Time For Three will perform the work Feb. 10 in an SCP Chamber Music concert at Orchestra Hall.

Puts previously worked with DiDonato at the Metropolitan Opera, where she appeared with Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara in his 2022 opera, The Hours, and he was instrumental in bringing her together with Time For Three for Emily – No Prisoner Be. In Kendall’s view, their unconventional blend of styles allows the music to express the “absolute freedom” that Dickinson found in her writing, when she was otherwise hemmed in by the rigid societal norms of 19th-century New England.   

“That’s what Kevin saw as this opportunity, between the delivery system of Joyce DiDonato and Time for Three — with his virtuosic classical style, but [also] gorgeous, heartfelt writing style, incorporating the soul of Joyce DiDonato and the raw, vulnerable energy of Time for Three, a complete rock-and-roll flair — that these poems could come to life in a completely different way,” said Kendall. “So, the show is at once epic, but also incredibly edgy, very soulful, and the sounds and harmonies are like the warmest of hugs.”

During the rehearsal process, “Joyce would come in and just recite these texts to get us in character, and that was such a special moment,” Yang recalled. “She is such a guru, and we call her our big sister, Queen Joyce. She’s just so thoughtful about what these words meant, and as instrumentalists and also as singers, it seeped through so that we could play the notes in a certain way.”

One of Yang’s favorite movements is “Her Face,” a mesmerizing duet between his and DiDonato’s voices, with Meyer and Kendall vocalizing in harmony. Kendall especially enjoys the penultimate movement, “If I can stop one Heart from breaking,” which nods to Dickinson’s complicated relationship with religion by layering her text with an a cappella rendition of the tune to the traditional Christmas carol, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.”

The trio’s members are eager to share Dickinson’s poetry with new audiences over the next three years, as they tour with DiDonato to four continents. Meyer noted that during the ensemble’s previous travels in Europe, they’ve seen statues of Abraham Lincoln, but Dickinson isn’t as well known outside the United States. “It’s really amazing, as musicians, how we have the opportunity to spread her words,” he said.

In their live performances, the music is enhanced by theatrical lighting and sound elements, directed by Andrew Staples, a stage and film director and operatic tenor. For example, some of the transitions between movements feature a loop of DiDonato’s voice reciting Dickinson’s poetry. “The whole thing is taking the very traditional song cycle but incorporating theater into it and turning it into this visceral, 80-minute experience,” said Kendall.

Meyer described the piece as “a chameleon-like work” that can function as a song cycle in a symphonic hall, a “mini-opera” in an opera house or “just an awesome experience” in a club. “We’re going to play it at Carnegie, and we’re going to play at all these beautiful performing arts venues [and] festivals in Europe,” he said. “That’s on the nose for us, because that’s what we do, but it’ll also be exciting, in addition to that, to see how we can chameleon our way into these other spaces.”

Live shows are “ultimately where we’re the most happy,” Kendall said, so it’s a treat for the ensemble to follow the album’s release with extensive touring. “It’s great to be part of the creation of something, and then just see how the world reacts to it,” Yang added. “It’s very exciting.”