Even 150 years after her death, Emily Dickinson’s poems are among the most valued works of English literature. Her bold, mysterious, sometimes provocative and funny lines are now the starting point for an extraordinary artistic collaboration that celebrates its world premier this summer at the Werkstattbühne in Bregenz, Austria.
Experience the Kansas City premiere of Emily–No Prisoner Be, a highly anticipated semi-staged song cycle based on (and featuring) the poetry of Emily Dickinson. It’s the latest collaboration between Kevin Puts—a Pulitzer Prize winner and Musical America’s 2024 Composer of the Year; mezzosoprano Joyce DiDonato, who was called “a stunning triumph” (Variety) as Virginia Woolf in Puts’s The Hours; and the classically trained, genre-crossing Time for Three trio, whose recording of Puts’s Triple Concerto won multiple GRAMMY® Awards in 2023. Hear the next chapter in this special collaboration between uniquely daring artists.
Emily - No Prisoner Be explores a unique poetic cosmos characterized by deeply felt emotions, existential questions and a special connection to nature. Although Dickinson led a secluded life in her own world of thoughts, she did not let social expectations or conventions limit her. Her works address topics such as freedom of mind, her own poetry and the search for identity and thus, often the question of faith and social norms.