Bending and blending genres was not necessarily what the classically trained string trio Time for Three (TF3) set out to do. The group’s unique and highly unconventional style evolved over a period of years, and its repertory includes everything from classical to bluegrass to roots rock to pop. On its Facebook page, TF3 describes itself as “just three dudes traveling the world playing music,” which suits its members perfectly.
The group consists of Charles Yang and Nick Kendall on violin and Ranaan Meyer on double bass, an unusual combination to begin with. And depending on what type of music they are performing, the two violinists may improvise, play their instruments like guitars, or pluck their strings at a lightning pace using a pizzicato technique unlike anything you’ve ever seen or heard before. And then the three might surprise you again by breaking into song, creating beautiful choral harmonies. They have their own distinctive look, performing in casual yet elegant attire, and their onstage charisma also powers their appeal.
In 2023, the group won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for its pandemic album Letters for the Future. The album features the world-premiere recordings of two concertos by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Kevin Puts and Jennifer Higdon, commissioned especially for TF3. Now, for Festival Napa Valley, the trio will be performing Puts’s concerto, Contact, which also won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, on July 21 at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena.
The original members of TF3 met while studying at the Curtis Institute of Music and began a residency with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) in 2009. When violinist Zachary DePue decided in 2015 to leave the group in order to devote more time to his concertmaster duties with the ISO, Yang, a Juilliard School graduate, got a call from Kendall about joining.
“So we went over to Ranaan’s house, and of course, we had to ‘date’ a little bit,” Yang explained. “We had to kind of court each other to see if it was going to work. And from the moment we started jamming together, it was kind of obvious that we were meant to make music together. In our little world of classical music, to find bandmates that are so classically rooted but who also improvise and create together, it’s a really rare thing.
“It’s almost a match made in heaven that the three of us got together,” Yang continued. “When I joined, a lot of the DNA changed in the group. I was already singing and improvising and doing a lot of things that they do as well, but in a different flavor. So we had to kind of find what the new group was going to be. And it was like starting new again — how do you create the sound that is the most honest for the three people in the band? And we found that.”
The members of TF3 also compose and do their own arrangements, partially because there is little music written for two violins and bass. “Those limitations sometimes of not having a cello or a viola or those [middle] sounds require us to write in a different way, and that’s where our voices come in, adding three more colors to the palette,” said Yang. “We are always finding new ways to do things.”
The group performs worldwide, but each member has a full schedule of solo appearances as well, so they are all constantly on the go while still planning for the future.
“We have already thought about our next concerto. It’s with Mason Bates, which makes a lot of sense because he’s one of [those] like-minded musicians,” Yang explained. “We are also doing another project with Kevin, which is really exciting. And we’re also working on our new solo album. We live such lucky [lives] because we get to work with some of the world’s leading composers, orchestras, and conductors. But on the other hand, we work with some of the world’s greatest songwriters and producers, and that’s what we are working on right now.”
The trio really loves collaborating and evolving together. “We’re a band, but we’re also individuals, so we like being ourselves while being unified at the same time,” said Yang. “And I think it definitely shows onstage and with our music, too. We wear our hearts on our sleeves whenever we play, and that’s always been the case for the three of us. That’s just the way we play, and it’s very honest.”
