Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary by giving a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie with world-renowned artists: Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto together with Maestro Barenboim and the young musicians. Yo-Yo Ma, who played with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at their first

concert 20 years ago, and Anne-Sophie Mutter, who made her debut with the orchestra only this year, were named as honorary members of the orchestra on the occasion of this event. “It is fascinating to experience how brilliant, concentrated and at the same time relaxed these three world stars make music together and listen to each other. A masterpiece of harmony“ (RBB24). The second part of the concert features Bruckner’s 9th Symphony, transcendental music which the composer himself dedicated to “the dear God“. The symphony is unfinished not only because Bruckner died during the process of composition, but especially because it seems to perish in nothingness. The musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra are excellently prepared and play technically and tonal flawlessly. A magic moment.

Yo-Yo Ma – Bach: Cello Suites

In 2018, Yo-Yo Ma began a two-year journey, setting out to perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo cello in one sitting, across 36 locations on 6 continents. For Yo-Yo, Bach’s 300-hundred-year-old music is one extraordinary example of how culture connects us and can help us to imagine and build a better future. In an unforgettable experience the 19 times Grammy ® Award winner and internationally acclaimed cellist performed the Cello Suites at the overwhelming Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Yo-Yo Ma says: “These suites are so meaningful. They’re not only companions and friends, but they’ve also been reference points in my life”. “Soft sounds around me suggested that others were caught up in similarly strong emotions. How Ma has this effect on people is a mystery: I suspect it has to do with the warmth he brings to music that is fundamentally beyond comprehension. He makes the godlike human.” Alex Ross, The New Yorker

Bernstein at 100: The Centennial Celebration At Tanglewood

The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood spotlights Bernstein’s wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert features a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein’s heart-selections includes from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, the finale of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony and music by Aaron Copland, plus a new work by John Williams.

Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration

Tanglewood is one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and serves as the summer home for the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). In a star-studded event featuring some of its most distinguished and longtime contributors, the prestigious Tanglewood Festival celebrated its 75th anniversary with an evening of sparkling music that will last in memory.

Gatti conducts Shostakovich, Tschaikovsky & Stravinsky

This remarkable concert led by designated Chief Conductor Daniele Gatti marks the return of master cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s (after twenty years) to the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In this season opening night they perform Shostakovich’s intense First Cello Concerto, which bears witness to the strained relationship between the composer and the Soviet authorities. Maestro Gatti juxtaposes the concerto with two successful works from the great Russian dance tradition: The three-part suite from Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” being enormously popular, partly as a result of the Disney film “Fantasia” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird”, which, with his phenomenal orchestration, is evoking an exotic and often brooding atmosphere. “After twenty years, this is a unique opportunity to work together with the wonderful RCO again – very special indeed!” (Yo-Yo Ma)

Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma & Daniel Barenboim

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary by giving a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie with world-renowned artists: Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto together with Maestro Barenboim and the young musicians. Yo-Yo Ma, who played with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at their first concert 20 years ago, and Anne-Sophie Mutter, who made her debut with the orchestra only this year, were named as honorary members of the orchestra on the occasion of this event. “It is fascinating to experience how brilliant, concentrated and at the same time relaxed these three world stars make music together and listen to each other. A masterpiece of harmony“ (RBB24). The second part of the concert features Bruckner’s 9th Symphony, transcendental music which the composer himself dedicated to “the dear God“. The symphony is unfinished not only because Bruckner died during the process of composition, but especially because it seems to perish in nothingness. The musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra are excellently prepared and play technically and tonal flawlessly. A magic moment. PROGRAM Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration

Located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, Tanglewood is one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and serves as the summer home for the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration festures the BSO, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, under the direction of conductors Keith Lockhart, Andris Nelsons, John Williams and David Zinman. Performers include pianists Emanuel Ax and Peter Serkin, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and vocalist James Taylor, as well as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver. Program: COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man; BERNSTEIN Three dance episodes from On the Town; Selections / Great American Songbook; HAYDN Piano Concerto in D, 2nd & 3rd movements; TCHAIKOVSKY Andante cantabile, for cello and strings; SARASATE Carmen Fantasy, for violin and orchestra; RAVEL La Valse; BEETHOVEN Choral Fantasy

Yo Yo Ma – The Goat Rodeo Sessions

The Goat Rodeo Sessions is an ambitious and groundbreaking project that brings together four string virtuosos: world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, fiddler Stuart Duncan, bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile. While each artist is a prominent figure in his own music sphere, they have come together as a unified ensemble on a most remarkable and organic cross-genre project. The music, including two tracks with female vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, feels both new and familiar – it’s composed and improvised, uptown and down home, funky and pastoral and above all, uniquely American. A goat rodeo, according to Urban Dictionary, “is about the most polite term used by aviation people (and others in higher risk situations) to describe a scenario that required about 100 things to go right at once if you intend to walk away from it.”

Tracks: Attaboy / Quarter Chicken Dark / Helping Hand / Where’s My Bow? / Here And Heaven (featuring vocals by Aoife O’Donovan & Chris Thile) / Franz And The Eagle / Less is Moi / Hill Justice / No One But You (featuring vocals by Aoife O’Donovan & Chris Thile) / 13:8 / Goat Rodeo // Also available: Making Of: 23′ min. The soundtrack was awarded with

The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood

The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood spotlights Bernstein’s wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert features a kaleidoscopic array of artists from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein’s heart-selections from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland – plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program’s second half; the finale of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony No. 2 brings the program to a dramatic close. 141 mins (including Bernstein at Tanglewood film + Video Greetings) /

127 mins (concert version only)

Carnegie Hall 120th Anniversary Concert

On May 5, 2011, Carnegie Hall commemorated its 120th anniversary with an all-star gala concert featuring conductor Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic and special guests: pianist Emanuel Ax, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Gil Shaham, and the four-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald. The eclectic, crowd pleasing program is set to include Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56, performed by Ax, Ma, and Shaham, a selection of Duke Ellington songs – including ‘Solitude,’ ‘Sophisticated Lady,’ ‘On a Turquoise Cloud,’ and ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing’ -performed by McDonald, and full performances of Antonin Dvorák’s Carnival Overture and George Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’.