Yo-Yo Ma News

Music Director Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announce the appointments of Wei-Ting Kuo and Danny Lai as the newest members of the viola section, effective May 19, 2014.

Golden Thread Productions presents The Fifth String: Ziryab's Passage to Cordoba, the second play to come out of its innovative 'Islam 101' initiative, which is dedicated to creating dynamic plays inspired by Islamic art and philosophy. Written and directed by Torange Yeghiazarian with original music by Faraz Minooei and production design by Mokhtar Paki, The Fifth String is a multifaceted performance created collaboratively with an ensemble of actors, clowns, and musicians. The piece is commissioned by the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California and presented in partnership with San Francisco's Brava Theatre Center with presentations in Oakland and San Francisco in May 2014. It will also have a third engagement at San Francisco's ODC in December 2014.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe present Brahms' First Symphony in concerts this weekend, May 1-4 in Englewood, Princeton and Newark. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill joins the Orchestra for Richard Danielpour's Clarinet Concerto, an NJSO co-commission written for McGill. On Saturday, May 3, the NJSO hosts Saturday Night Out-a post-concert champagne and dessert reception for ticketholders who are LGBT community members and friends-at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.

New York City Ballet announced today that JR, the prize-winning artist and creator of NYCB's 2014 Art Series installation, The Eye of New York City Ballet, will next collaborate with the Company on an original theatrical work that will premiere tonight, April 29, on the opening night of the Company's 2014 Spring Season.

Turtle Bay Music School's 10th Annual Perform-A-Thon will be held Friday, May 16th through Sunday, May 18th. The community music marathon opens on Thursday, May 15th with a Kickoff Concert and Reception, featuring performances by a trio from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Mark O'Connor, Jason Robert Brown, and Sujari Britt. The evening honors Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and the Herbert M. Citrin Foundation for their support. Kickoff Concert tickets are $100 for VIP table seating or give as you are able for concert seating.

In the history of the Holocaust, the fate of Hungarian Jews stands out due to the exceptional speed with which their deportation was carried out by the Hungarian authorities cooperating with the Eichmann bureau very late in the war, in summer 1944. Almost half a million people were deported in less than three months, and over half a million were murdered in the course of World War II in forced labour units, in labor and death camps and in various pogroms conducted by Arrowcross men.

This weekend, April 25, 26 and 27, one of the contemporary music world's most innovative and exciting figures heads back to Houston. With his uniquely expressive sound and soaring musical imagination, superstar Chris Botti will rejoin the Houston Symphony to perform some of his favorite tunes along with music from his newest CD, Impressions.

Each of Wolfgang Amade Mozart's vast number of compositions is considered a musical gem. Join Music Director Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as they celebrate Mozart's extensive catalog of masterpieces during the BNY Mellon Grand Classics Mozart Festival, a two-week exploration of the five pillars of Mozart's music - symphony, concerto, chamber music, opera and sacred music.

On April 25, 26 and 27, one of the contemporary music world's most innovative and exciting figures heads back to Houston. With his uniquely expressive sound and soaring musical imagination, superstar Chris Botti will rejoin the Houston Symphony to perform some of his favorite tunes along with music from his newest CD, Impressions.

Texas Performing Arts presents ten-time GRAMMY Award-winner Bobby McFerrin in his 'spirityouall' tour at Bass Concert Hall tonight, April 24, 2014 at 8 p.m.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) announces the participation of world-renowned architect, Frank Gehry, in its November 2014 exploration of the life and career of Pierre Boulez, the revolutionary composer, conductor and curator whose 89th birthday was March 26, 2014.

With great sadness, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra announces the passing of beloved concertmaster Chuck Sherba. He passed early the morning of Saturday April 19, lovingly surrounded by his wife, Consuelo, and their children Claire, Gabby, and Alexander, and grandson Augustine.

This weekend, as we all overload on sugar and attend the obligatory Passion performance, Mark Morris is getting ready to unveil his latest opus. His new production of Handel's ACIS AND GALATEA, one of the most beloved English language operas, has its world premiere next week at Cal Performances, Berkeley (April 25 - 27), before traveling to Celebrity Series of Boston (May 15-18) for its East Coast premiere.

New York City Ballet's 2014 Spring Season will open on Tuesday, April 29, with a one-week Festival of 21st Century Choreographers featuring 11 ballets by 10 different choreographers - Mauro Bigonzetti, William Forsythe, Peter Martins, Benjamin Millepied, Justin Peck, Angelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratmansky, Liam Scarlett, Richard Tanner, and Christopher Wheeldon - as well the world premiere of a piece d'occasion by the artist JR, which will debut on opening night.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts announces a second set of performances to complete the 2014 Summer season. Wolf Trap offers unparalleled diversity in programming in a stunning natural environment, and builds upon its founding principles of celebrating music while nurturing the next generation through education.

The Celebrity Series of Boston announced its 2014-2015 season today, marking 76 years of bringing the world's greatest performing artists to Boston. The season opens on Sunday, October 5, 2014 with Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini in recital. In total, the 2014-2015 season will include 46 music, dance and entertainment engagements. The 2014-15 season is sponsored by Amy and Joshua Boger.

The Aquila Theatre Company is proud to announce the launch of it's new You|Stories program with a staged reading of 'A Female Philoctetes' (based on Sophocles' classic 'Philoctetes',) running at BAM Fisher's Hillman Studio from today, April 16 to April 19, with performances at 7 pm. You|Stories in an innovative national program, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, that uses arts and humanities to explore the ancient and modern narratives of war.

World-renowned cellist YO-YO MA will join Music Director LARRY RACHLEFF and the RHODE ISLAND PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA in a grand gala concert to launch the Philharmonic's 70th anniversary season. Mr. Ma will play Elgar's Cello Concerto with the orchestra. The orchestra will also perform Stravinsky's Firebird Suiteand Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict Overture. The concert takes place Sunday June 1 at 7:00pm at The Vets in Providence, presented by Nortek and sponsored by Taco/The White Family Foundation, the Carter Family Charitable Trust, AmicaInsurance, Capital Properties and Roger Williams University. Media sponsors are the Providence Journal, NBC 10, News Talk 630 and 99.7FM WPRO, Lite Rock 105, and Full Channel. Ticket reservations are available by phone at 401.248.7000 and in person at the RIPO box office, 667 Waterman Ave., East Providence, Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm.

The League of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) will celebrate its 25th annual Corporate Night on Monday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. with special guest Melissa Etheridge performing with members of the CSO, led by conductor Sean O'Loughlin. Over the course of more than two decades as a performer and songwriter, Melissa Etheridge has earned her post as one of rock 'n' roll's most respected artists with numerous hits, such as 'I'm the Only One,' 'Come to My Window' and 'I Want to Come Over.'

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) present Bell & Lacombe, a one-performance-only program on Friday, May 9, at 8 pm in NJPAC's Prudential Hall. The Grammy Award-winning violinist performs Sibelius' Violin Concerto and Ravel's Tzigane on a program that includes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture and Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe conducts.