Yo-Yo Ma News

Legendary songwriter, recording artist and performer Paul Simon will release his 14 th studio album - In The Blue Light - on September 7. Produced by Simon and Roy Halee, who have worked together since the 1960s, the album features a talented cast of musicians who have joined Simon to lend fresh perspectives on 10 of the artist's favorite (though perhaps less-familiar) songs, drawn from his unparalleled body of work.

Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF), Cape Cod's premiere presenter of summer chamber music presents Around the World in Seven Cellos on Friday, August 17, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church, 200 Main Street, Wellfleet.

A GRAMMY-winner while in his 20s, violin prodigy Jeremy Kittel (formerly of the Turtle Island Quartet) has assembled an incredible group of young players for his Compass Records debut, WHORLS. Known as a composer-arranger-collaborator for such diverse artists as My Morning Jacket, Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble, and Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, the Brooklyn-based artist has built his own repertoire of music for this new group. Comprised of Kittel, mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham (named 'the future of the mandolin' by Mandolin Magazine), Canadian guitarist Quinn Bachand, cellist Nathaniel Smith (Sarah Jarosz, Kacey Musgraves), and hammer-dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman, these players effortlessly reference a dazzling array of acoustic music styles, from Celtic and bluegrass to folk and jazz. WHORLS introduces us to the group's visceral-yet-precise musicianship on these 11 tracks. While WHORLS is largely an instrumental album, Kittel sings on the moody, haunting track, 'Waltz,' supported by friend and colleague Sarah Jarosz lending ethereal backing vocals. Listen to 'Waltz' on Spotify.The title, WHORLS, refers to patterns of spirals, which Kittel explains as 'something you'd see in a plant or a lot of different natural formations.' He says that the music itself was 'born out of this desire to connect with the internal voice.' The album's first single 'Pando'  was originally written for the Detroit Symphony, and it was driven by a compelling violin melody that evolves from its timid entrance to urgent plight. The album's scope ranges from buoyant rhythmic undercurrent of tracks like 'The Boxing Reels' to the longingly bittersweet 'Home in the World' -- a song named in honor of the late journalist Daniel Pearl and a collection of his writings.

The American Symphony Orchestra today announced the 57th season of its Vanguard series at Carnegie Hall, running from October 17, 2018 through March 22, 2019. The 2018-19 season will focus on rediscovering works of the 20th century, illuminating masterpieces from the not so distant past and bringing rarely-heard composers to a wider audience. Music director Leon Botstein will conduct all concerts in the series.

The 21st Beijing Music Festival Embraces the East and the West; Leads in a New Direction

Yo-Yo Ma will release Six Evolutions - Bach: Cello Suites (Sony Classical), his third and final recording of these works, on August 17, 2018. The album is available now for preorder, including a 3-LP 180-gram vinyl set, and the Bourrées from Suite No. 3 can be heard now on all digital service providers.

If you didn't find a performance to attend in the first part of this series--or you simply can't get enough operas, symphonic concerts and musical theatre pieces thrown in for good measure--here's more to choose from. It covers the gamut from the Mozart REQUIEM to Bernstein, Bernstein and more Bernstein.

Mr. Dichter to perform in chamber recital with the Argus Quartet, as well as in duo piano recital with wife and long-time collaborator, pianist Cipa Dichter.

To celebrate Father's Day, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil)'s Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducted an amazing free Father's Day concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on 17 June (Sunday). With a programme comprising all-time favourite classics, we invited the Hong Kong community and around 100 organisations and schools that help people with special needs, to share the joy of classical music with their families and friends.

New show on sale at bergenPAC: Lords of the Dance: Dangerous Games on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2017 at 8 p.m.; Chris Botti on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 at 8 p.m.; B-The Underwater Bubble Show on Sunday, March 3, 2019 at 1 & 4 p.m.; The Temptations and The Four Tops on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 22, 2018 at 11 a.m. at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling bergenPAC's Box Office at (201) 227-1030.

Tanglewood's season-long Bernstein centennial celebration-one of the most comprehensive looks at Bernstein's amazing impact on the worlds of music and theater taking place in the anniversary year-will culminate in a gala concert on Bernstein's actual 100th birthday, August 25. Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood concert will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe, and his presence as a driving musical force at Tanglewood, 1940-1990.

The Mark O'Connor Band today released their new single 'In My Blood' featuring multiplatinum GRAMMY Award-Winning artist Zac Brown. The single was recorded at Brown's Southern Ground Nashville studio.

Throughout the upcoming 2018-2019 season, the Carnegie Hall Citywide concert series will bring more than thirty free performances by top classical, jazz, world, and popular music artists to seventeen different venues across New York City. Presented in partnership with local community organizations, Carnegie Hall Citywide showcases outstanding mainstage artists and rising stars across a wide variety of genres, tapping into the pulse of the city and bringing people together to share in the joy of music. Formerly known as Carnegie Hall's Neighborhood Concerts, the newly-named series builds on Carnegie Hall's tradition of bringing free performances to New York City neighborhoods for more than forty years.

Shakespeare & Company celebrates its 41st Season, Saturday, June 30th with its annual Gala. This year's event will honor Trustee Michael A. Miller for his twenty-five years of dedication to the Company. The very special evening will feature a one-night-only performance blending music and theatre from Silkroad Ensemble and Shakespeare & Company's venerated performers.

Having launched their 2018 programme with Dai Fujikura Portrait, Avex Classics International return to the renowned Wigmore Hall today 2nd June with an exciting second recital. This special concert will feature an all Rachmaninov programme performed by Rachmaninov Specialist and multi award-winning cellist Yuki Ito with acclaimed pianist Sofya Gulyak. This will be the first time that Wigmore Hall has presented an all-Rachmaninov programme on cello.

THIRTEEN's Great Performances and Pacific Symphony, led by music director Carl St.Clair, pay tribute to America's history with a performance of composer Peter Boyer's “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a Grammy-nominated contemporary classical work celebrating the historic American immigrant experience.Great Performances – Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony premieres nationwideFriday, June 29 at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month. It will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.

Hailed as a 'virtuoso' and 'intensely soulful' by The New York Times, Grammy-winning, Syrian-born clarinetist Kinan Azmeh will perform in a collaborative LiveConnections Presents concert this May at World Cafe Live. He will be joined by the acclaimed Aizuri Quartet, praised by the Washington Post for 'captivating' performances that draw from a notable 'meld of intellect, technique and emotions.' The finale of the LiveConnections Presents season will take place today, May 31, 2018 at 7:30PM, and will span classical, jazz and Arab musical languages.

Music nonprofit LiveConnections' 2017-18 concert series, which features collaborative concerts especially for adventurous music-lovers, dares to ask a bold question: Can music build community?

Pianist Misha Dichter will appear in chamber music program with violinist Mark Peskanov and cellist Julian Schwarz as part of the Bargemusic Masterworks Series, Today evening, May 26, 2018 at 6 pm and Sunday afternoon, May 27, 2018 at 4 pm, featuring the New York premieres and world premiere of Gerard Schwarz's Three Duos for violin and cello. The program will also include Schubert's Piano Trio in B-Flat Major, D. 898 (Op. 99).

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra announced that it has raised more than $630,000 during its 25th Anniversary Season Gala Celebration, which will be invested in the programming of the organization, helping it to continue to enrich the community and inspire audiences through the power of live music.