Yo-Yo Ma News

CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov leads the Columbus Symphony, Columbus Symphony Chorus, and four brilliant guest vocalists in a haunting and enigmatic performance of Mozart's last and unfinished masterpiece. This emotional journey is preceded by a clever piece by composer Mason Bates that combines technology and live sound to depict an orchestra of historic instruments.

Artists Series Concerts of Sarasota presents Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, joined by his son, pianist Peter John Stoltzman, in Celebrating Bernstein's World, Saturday, March 9, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 10, 3:00 p.m., at the Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced that Mo Willems-the beloved author and illustrator best known as the award-winning creator of The Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant & Piggie-will serve as its first Education Artist-in-Residence. Throughout the two-year residency, Willems and the Kennedy Center will develop new works for children, former children, and their families; curate collaborative experiences across artistic genres that spark creativity and invite hands-on, multigenerational audience engagement; and consult with the Center's Education division, which serves students, adults, and communities nationwide. Visit www.kennedy-center.org/mowillems for performance and ticketing information.

The Music Institute of Chicago hosts its 2019 Anniversary Gala on Monday, May 20 at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 E. Delaware Street, celebrating its history as one of the largest and most respected community music schools in the nation with a festive evening highlighted by the presentation of the Dushkin Award to acclaimed jazz trumpet player, bandleader, composer, and educator Wynton Marsalis.

Schimmel Center at Pace University continues its 2018-19 Dance Series with the return of Battery Dance on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 7:30pm. The evening's repertoire is characterized by choreography and music inspired by worldwide sources, reflecting American society and its multiplicity of cultures, with contributing artists including Silk Road Ensemble member Kevork Mourad, Grammy Award winner Kinan Azmeh, and Battery Dance Founder and Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander. In addition, choreographer Tadej Brdnik will present the world premiere of his new work,

Schimmel Center at Pace University continues its 2018-19 Dance Series with the return of Battery Dance on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 7:30pm. The evening's repertoire is characterized by choreography and music inspired by worldwide sources, reflecting American society and its multiplicity of cultures, with contributing artists including Silk Road Ensemble member Kevork Mourad, Grammy Award winner Kinan Azmeh, and Battery Dance Founder and Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander. In addition, choreographer Tadej Brdnik will present the world premiere of his new work, The Red Line.

CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov will lead the Columbus Symphony in an exploration of Norse legend and mythology in the Nordic Myths Festival. The program begins with the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, Wagner's passionate opera inspired by Celtic myths, followed by Grieg's Piano Concerto, featuring guest pianist Alessio Bax, that immortalizes the beauty of the Nordic landscape. The concert concludes with Sibelius' Lemminkainen Suite, wherein Finnish myths from The Kalevala come to life accompanied by original video art by Jason Gay.

On February 7 at 7:30pm, Kinan Azmeh returns to The Broad Stage with his CityBand for a fusion of Arabic, jazz, world and classical influences. A GRAMMY Award-winner as a member of the Silk Road Ensemble, Azmeh has been hailed as a "virtuoso" and "intensely soulful" by The New York Times. His utterly distinctive sound across different musical genres has gained him international recognition as a clarinetist and composer.

 The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association has announced today the line-up for the 2019 KCRW's World Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. The successful collaboration between KCRW and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association celebrates its 20th anniversary, and launches Sunday, June 16, at 7PM.

The University Musical Society (UMS) is pleased to announce a visit to Michigan by cellist Yo-Yo Ma that will take place February 27-28, 2019 in Ann Arbor and Flint. This special visit builds on the performer's two-year journey to perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Suites for Solo Cello as a catalyst for social action, and it marks the first time Ma is extending the model beyond the Bach Project to engage a broader audience. The activities include a talk in the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium on 'Culture, Understanding, and Survival' as well as a 'Day of Action' in Flint, MI, with the theme 'Flint Voices: Culture, Community, and Resilience.' This day-long set of activities will bring together 50 Flint-based community leaders for a working session on cultural collaboration for social change led by Yo-Yo Ma, as well as a Community Cultural Showcase celebrating Flint's past and future, which is open to the public.

Houston Ballet Artistic Director, Stanton Welch AM, announces the company's 2019/20 season, celebrating 50 years of creativity. The golden anniversary will be reflected in every performance during the season, showcasing Houston Ballet's signature style for the timeless, iconic and innovative.

In early 2019, Kaufman Music Center will launch a new classical concert series at Merkin Hall, 'Only at Merkin with Terrance McKnight.' Hosted by WQXR's Terrance McKnight and showcasing some of the classical world's most acclaimed and celebrated artists, these evenings of insightful conversation and virtuosic performances will enlighten and inspire, deepening the audience's understanding and appreciation of the music, the composers, and the artists' creative process.

Nearly 90 years ago, on the final Saturday in 1929, a group of 51 men and women took the stage at Central High School and gave Grand Rapids the best Christmas present of all, the gift of music.

Carnegie Hall today announced that 15-time Grammy Award-winning banjoist Bela Fleck, renowned bassist Edgar Meyer, and multi-award winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis will join the bill for Live from Here with Chris Thile on Saturday, March 9 at 5:45 p.m., in Stern Auditorium/ Perelman Stage. Opening the Migrations: The Making of America festival at Carnegie Hall, Chris Thile leads an evening that explores the ways in which Scots and Irish traditions helped shape and continue to influence American folk music today.

The 2019 Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival features an extraordinary roster of twenty-two musical groups, highlighted by the festival debut of Grammy award winning artist Norah Jones, and the return of jazz legend George Benson and festival favorite Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Back by popular demand is also Los Van Van 50th Anniversary, Django Festival All-Stars with Edmar Castañeda and Grace Kelly, Joshua Redman Quartet, and James Carter Organ Trio. Fifteen emerging artists making their Saratoga debuts include Kandace Springs, Donna Grantis, Joey DeFrancesco Trio, Mercy Project which features Jon Cowherd, Brian Blade, John Patitucci, and Steve Cardenas, Antonio Sanchez & Migration, and Cha Wa. The festival will also feature a record number of groups led by women artists, highlighted by Allison Miller, Veronica Swift, Ruthie Foster and Youn Sun Nah.

Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director, today announced Carnegie Hall's 2019–2020 season featuring more than 170 concerts by many of the world's most celebrated artists and ensembles in classical, pop, jazz, and world music. The season also includes a wide range of groundbreaking education and social impact programs created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, engaging audiences in New York City, across the country, and around the world.

Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director, today announced Carnegie Hall's 2019–2020 season featuring more than 170 concerts by many of the world's most celebrated artists and ensembles in classical, pop, jazz, and world music. The season also includes a wide range of groundbreaking education and social impact programs created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, engaging audiences in New York City, across the country, and around the world.

Reminiscing about his journey from the basketball courts of rural Israel to the grand symphony halls of the world, cellist Amit Peled will read his children's book, "A Cello Named Pablo" with the accompaniment of cello as part of Howard Community College's (HCC) Guest Artist Series on February 8, 2019, at the college's Science, Engineering, and Technology Building (SET), Room 101. The following evening, Peled will return with pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera for the recital of "To Brahms, With Love" in the Monteabaro Recital Hall, located within the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center (HVPA).

World renowned composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct the Colburn Orchestra at The Soraya on Thursday, January 31 at 8 p.m. The program features Strauss tone poems the playful Til Eulenspiegel and grand Also sprach Zarathustra as well as Mozart's Clarinet Concerto performed by Cristina Mateo S ez, a Colburn Conservatory student and Jacques Lancelot International Clarinet Competition prizewinner.

Grammy Award-winning Chris Botti, backed by his incredible band, will perform live at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts on Friday, May 10 at 8pm. Tickets are on sale now.