Stories » Yo-Yo Ma with CSO in world premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's 'Cello Concerto' / Chicago Tribune review

Stories for January 22, 2020

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    Anne Akiko Meyers set to record Arvo Part's new composition dedicated to her; Estonian Lullaby
     
    Posted At : January 21, 2020 12:00 AM

    Right before Christmas, Anne Akiko Meyers received a beautiful handwritten manuscript of legendary composer, Arvo Pärt's new composition, Estonian Lullaby, dedicated to the violinist. Completely speechless upon receiving this tremendous work, Meyers decided to record the piece and will do so this week at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City with pianist, Reiko Uchida. Look for the exclusive release this spring! AAM is excited and can't wait for everyone to listen and feel the extraordinary beauty of this great composer's music!!   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

  • IUP's Lively Arts Program set to present Project Trio / The Penn
     
    Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    IUP's Lively Arts Program and the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex both have a wide range of performances and events planned for the upcoming 2020 spring semester. On Tuesday, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Gorell Recital Hall on the second floor of Sutton Hall, there will be a chamber music ensemble titled "Project Trio" which features three composers and performers that come from Brooklyn. Their performance will showcase their classical training and an assortment of musical tastes and styles. All audience members can enjoy free admission to this unique event and are promised a surprising and high-energy musical experience.  READ THE FULL Penn Online ARTICLE

  • Khatia Buniatishvili plays the Liszt 'Piano Concerto no. 2 in A Major' with fury and craftmanship at Kravis Center / Palm Beach Daily News
     
    Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra opened a promising Sunday evening at the Kravis Center. Pianist Khatia Buniatishvili took the stage to perform Franz Liszt's "Piano Concerto no. 2 in A Major," S125. Benjamin Mellefont on clarinet had gorgeous moments with brief soloistic passages. A homogeneous violin section expertly blended every pitch and dynamic swell. It was a pleasure to witness the precision of articulation and bowing in the strings of the orchestra, allowing the audience to bathe in the beautiful Lisztian sound palette. Buniatishvili played with a fury that denoted battle and violence, and a flair for the dramatic. The exactness and craftmanship of her sound on the massive Steinway grand was an unmistakable hallmark of this brilliant artist. She smoldered in the quieter phrases of the concerto, almost as if she desperately wanted to get back to communicating raging fire in the multiple Allegro movements, but there were still passive moments to go before the big finish. When Buniatishvili did arrive back at those tempestuous moments, she whipped her hands away from the keyboard, thrashing her hair back and forth and bodily leaning into the orchestra, almost daring them to challenge her fury. The balance was right until the very end when any evidence of the piano's final chords was lost in the crashing orchestra. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL Palm Beach Daily News REVIEW

  • GoldenPlec interviews Bela Fleck
     
    Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    Banjo jazz? It sounds like a euphemism for something questionable. But though the banjo is often associated with white roots and folk music, it actually has its origins in the same Afro-American tradition that gave rise to blues and jazz - so the association isn't so strange after all. And then again, Béla Fleck has never been particularly concerned with genres. Named after composer Béla Bartók, in his 30-year career Fleck has been nominated for grammies for Folk, Country, Bluegrass, Jazz, Pop and World Music. He's won 14 times for both his own work with the Flecktones and for guest spots with bands like the legendary Asleep At The Wheel. And in 2016 he won yet again, this time for his first recording with his wife, Abigail Washburn, herself a virtuouso banjo player with similarly adventurous musical tastes.  When they're duetting, Fleck and Washburn can make their instruments sound like anything from medieval lutes to arabic ouds to Chinese zithers. But Washburn's vocals always call them back to the American roots music tradition, and their last recording, ‘Echo In The Valley' saw them mix their own tunes with Appalachian folk songs and bluesy versions of classics like "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains".  Fleck has always been as prolific in touring as he's been in recording, and we spoke to him ahead of a spring tour that starts in Dublin, stops off for a couple of dates in the UK, and then winds for months through the American heartland and south.  p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE Goldenplec Q&A

  • Sundance 2020 - offscreen events will host Max Richter's 'Sleep' / But Why Tho?
     
    Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    Sundance Institute will curate dozens of offscreen events, including behind-the-scenes panels on the art of filmmaking, musical performances and – around the theme of Imagined Futures – a public Bonfire and several extended post-screening conversations (known as IF Screenings), at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival taking place in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Sundance, Utah, January 23 through February 2, 2020. "Our offscreen programming provides a powerful cultural temperature check – it is an expression of what is preoccupying artists, bot  in terms of their own creativity, and also how that intersects with the issues of the day," said John Nein, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer. "This year in addition to a slate of incredible performances, there is a real focus on civic engagement, data justice, disability as a creative force,  and the role of art as an indispensable tool in the fight for truth-telling and justice-making. All of which ties perfectly into our theme of Imagined Futures." On Friday, January 31, at 8:00 p.m., The Shop will host Max Richter's 'Sleep'. Open to Festival credential holders as space allows Lift yourself out of the Festival's frenetic pace for a spellbinding evening as Max Richter performs a 90-minute concert version of his eight-hour opus, Sleep, with a string quintet from New York's American Contemporary Music Ensemble and soprano Grace Davidson. The concert will be followed by a Q&A with Richter, his creative partner and producer of Sleep Yulia Mahr, and filmmaker Natalie Johns (Max Richter's Sleep). p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} SEE THE FULL But Why Tho? PAGE

  • The Jake Shimabukuro trio will show Asheville their energy when they play The Orange Peel / Citizen Times
     
    Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    There's typically been a difference in the albums that ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro records and how he performs his compositions in concert. That difference is the amount of instrumentation, mostly drums, that are absent from the road. Shimabukuro made the difficult decision to not use drums on his upcoming project, an album titled "Trio" that will be released on Feb. 14. "The reason I wanted to do that is that because, even as much as I love the drums and the energy drums bring to an album, I felt that sometimes the sounds of the drums can hide some of the subtle nuances in the electric guitar and the bass," he said. "That was definitely a big difference having just electric bass, electric guitar and the ukulele. We depend on the drums to drive the song and give it a good groove," he continued. "When we play live we don't have the drummer and the energy can still get pretty intense and I wanted to see if that would translate on the album, so we just approached it as a trio." Fans can find out just how much energy Shimabukuro, bassist Nolan Verner, and guitarist Dave Preston produce on stage when they play on Jan. 24 at The Orange Peel. READ THE FULL Citizen Times ARTICLE

  • Simon Rattle and the LSO unearth Beethoven's only oratorio, and it could hardly be bettered / FINANCIAL TIMES
     
    Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    A year or two ago people must have been scratching their heads at orchestras around the world trying to think of a novel and interesting way to mark Beethoven's 250th anniversary. A complete cycle of the symphonies will have been pencilled in (the Barbican is offering two, of radically different kinds), but where to go from there? It might seem that there are no little-known works of any size by Beethoven left, but Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra set out to prove otherwise. Their choice fell on a performance of his only oratorio, Christus am Ölberge. What Rattle made clear is that the music is full of life. It is hard to imagine this performance being bettered. Pavol Breslik combined suppleness and strength of utterance for the tortured music of Jesus, like Fidelio in the darkness of his dungeon. Elsa Dreisig sang with brightness and purity as the seraph, hitting gleaming top notes as if she was auditioning for Mozart's Queen of the Night. David Soar was the sturdy bass Peter and the London Symphony Chorus, not hugely taxed, was at its best.  PHOTO: Mark Allan READ THE FULL FINANCIAL TIMES ARTICLE

Top 10 for Jan

Yo-Yo Ma with CSO in world premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's 'Cello Concerto' / Chicago Tribune review

Posted: March 11, 2017 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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It was perhaps inevitable that Esa-Pekka Salonen and Yo-Yo Ma would one day collaborate on a new work. The artists share a questing spirit that carries them far beyond the sphere ordinary musicians inhabit, Salonen as one of our most thoughtful composers and probing conductors, Ma as one of our most eloquent virtuosos and committed citizens of the musical world at large. The world premiere of Salonen's Cello Concerto, the new work they introduced at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's concert Thursday night March 9, 2017, at Symphony Center was like twin forces of nature coming together. PHOTO: Ting Shen Chicago Tribune

READ THE FULL Chicago Tribune REVIEW

Crossover Media Projects with Yo-Yo Ma

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Salonen Cello Concerto w/Los Angeles Philharmonic

    On March 8, Sony Classical will release a recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen's cello concerto featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Salonen's baton. Co-commissioned for Ma by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Barbican Centre, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Salonen's cello concerto premiered on March 9, 2017 with Salonen himself conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ma and the concerto then came to the New York Philharmonic on March 17, 2017, with then-Music Director Alan Gilbert conducting; Ma and Gilbert continued the premiere season with performances at London's Barbican Centre and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. This recording captures the live performance in Los Angeles on February 8, 2018.

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Six Evolutions - Bach Cello Suites

    YO-YO MA releases Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites today.  The new album from Sony Classical marks Ma's third and final recording of the works and celebrates his nearly six-decade-long relationship with the music.  Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites is available to stream and download now on all digital service providers and for purchase as a 3-LP 180-gram vinyl set.

    As Ma's "constant musical companions" for almost 60 years, Bach's Cello Suites first entered the cellist's life at the age of four, when he learned the first measure of the Prélude to Suite No. 1 under his father's instruction.  His Grammy Award-winning first complete recording of the suites was made in his late twenties. His second, Inspired by Bach, was released in his early forties and recorded alongside a multi-genre, collaborative exploration of the works. Both previous recordings of the Cello Suites, also on Sony Classical, became landmarks in classical discography, as well as milestones in Ma's musical life.  Since then these works have been a through line in his life, guiding him through times of happiness as well as hardship, prompting Ma to ask, "What power does this music possess that even today, after three hundred years, it continues to help us navigate through troubled times?"

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach

    CBS/Sony Classical has been accompanying superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma for decades on his journey through the unsurpassed works written for his instrument by Johann Sebastian Bach. The label is now pleased to announce the release of important landmarks from that journey, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach, on a single CD. Ma's first recording of Bach's six Solo Suites, which went on to win the Grammy? for "Best Classical Instrumental Performance" and is represented here by the Sarabande from the Sixth Suite, took place in 1982. In the same year, Yo-Yo Ma recorded Bach's complete sonatas for viola da gamba with harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper which was hailed by Gramophone as "intelligent and expressive."

    24 NEW  53 TOTAL
    SYND:     Classical 24, CBC
    Direct: SiriusXM, MOOD, AccuRadio 
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Seattle, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Austin, Denver, Memphis, AL(Statewide), NE(Statewide), MN(Statewide), MI(Statewide)
    INTER: Canada, UK
    Online: Bradenton Herald, BroadwayWorld

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Songs Of Joy & Peace

    Imagine a party, a musical party inspired by the holiday season. A party that celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and joy animating seasonal festivals the world over Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Yule and New Year's Day. That is what brought Yo-Yo Ma together with a remarkable group of friends to create Yo-Yo Ma & Friends Songs of Joy & Peace, a new album of songs from Sony Masterworks.

    3 New 'ON' this week: 291
    SYND:     NPR/Hearts of Space, APM/Prairie Home Companion & Performance Today, PRI/Jazz After Hours & Classical 24, WFMT Network/Jazz with Bob Parlocha, UnderCurrents, Folkscene, Music Of Your Life, Acoustic Cafe, Radio DeLuxe
    Direct: XM/Fine Tuning, Music Choice/Jazz & Soundscapes
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Wash DC, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Denver, Portland, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Berkeley CA, Nashville, Memphis, Albuquerque, Honolulu, Austin, Louisville, San Antonio, Columbus OH, Madison WI, Puerto Rico, Canada

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    The Essential Yo-Yo Ma

    An Essential Collection From Yo-Yo Ma. One Of The Most Popular Musicians Of Our Time! 34 Incredible tracks spanning Yo-Yo Ma's entire career - From his Academy Award winning performance on: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and his Grammy Winning Soul Of The Tango: to his latest Silk Road Ensemble recording: Beyond the Horizon.

    8 ADD's this week: 68 Stations now "ON"
    Markets include:     New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Cleveland, St. Louis, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Houston, New Orleans, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Buffalo

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    30 Years Outside the Box

    Comprising ninety discs, Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside the Box is a salute to Yo-Yo Ma's monumental musical achievements and to his 30-year legacy with Sony Masterworks. The exciting story of his life and work is eloquently told in a quality hard bound book of over 312 pages, lavishly illustrated with more than 150 color and black-and-white archival photos, original album artwork, liner notes and credits. Further enriching the story of this musical giant is a warm and insightful foreword by his longtime friend and esteemed fellow artist, pianist Emanuel Ax, as well as a lengthy, insightful essay by noted critic Richard Dyer.

    40 New ON this week   53 Total
    Synd: Virtuoso Voices
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Baltimore, New Orleans, Berkeley CA
    Online: Taintradio, Dr. Music

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Appassionato

    Yo-Yo Ma's latest recording for Sony Classical, Appassionato, is a journey through some of the world's most romantic music-from Mendelssohn to Gershwin to John Williams. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, and with a CD catalogue of astonishing breadth and depth, Yo-Yo Ma has consistently been one of the top-selling classical artists in the world. His recordings have earned him a total of fifteen Grammy Awards.

    7 New 'ON' this week: 63 Total "Stations/Shows"
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinatti, Baltimore, Salt Lake, New Orleans