Photo credit: Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an artist who doesn’t need an introduction because his life and career are intertwined with the arts, the environment and extraordinary cello playing. As a United Nations Messenger of Peace, these aspects and more were highlighted in a review of his concert April 5 at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara – provided by Miroirs CA’s roving correspondent.
Ma’s initiatives such as the Bach Project, Our Common Nature and Silkroad Ensemble bring performance and education to global audiences as well as an evening in Santa Barbara which combined crossover style with inspirational discussions about the importance of world peace. The entire concert was imbued with a kind of calm enveloping a meditation retreat. Ma gave the audience a master class of thoughts as he spoke about his childhood and coming to America, which was enhanced by an onstage conversation with author/chef Samir Nosrat (New York Times bestseller Salt Fat Acid Heat and Good Things to be released in September) about aspects of Grace and Awe – which they said could be experienced through nature.
This interaction was enhanced by a backdrop of visuals and dialogue displayed on a large onstage screen which provided input on pieces played and quotes from luminaries such as Leonard Bernstein: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”
Ma’s handpicked selections included Bach’s suites for unaccompanied cello, specifically the first, Summertime from Porgy and Bess and snippets from Dvořák and Piazzolla’s Libertango. He took visuals to a new level in promoting a message of peace through an on-screen slide show of images of the universe as seen through the Hubble telescope, to which pre-recorded background melody was played alongside his subtle improvisations on the cello. The interlude also contained Roger Payne’s recording of humpback whales, of which Ma imitated mammal sounds on the cello which filled the enormous theatre with a tingling sensation of cello string vibrations. He and Nosrat also read alternately Good Night Moon, the classic children’s bedtime story with verses projected on-screen and audience joining in with teary-eyed resonance.
Ma’s slide show of the universe theme peppered with music and words felt like booking a group session of yoga exercise and prayerful chant all rolled into one. It was an extraordinary moment and a good night for us all. An evening with Yo-Yo Ma was a concert filled with generosity of music for soul and spirit. He offered a concert of peace and by the end of the evening, people in the sold-out Arlington auditorium left in a less anxious frame of mind. The chosen date of his concert was significant. Hours earlier there were global peace marches and a local peaceful trekking of thousands through Santa Barbara. But Ma has engaged his artistry for comfort on many occasions or during times of unease, such as a commemorative Ground Zero performance of the Sarabande from Bach’s first cello suite on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 incident.
In his website, Ma writes, “All the things I love about life outside music have to do with people, and playing the cello allows me to fulfill all those interests through music.”
Click The Link To Read About Yo-Yo Ma’s Concerts And Latest Album Merci, which features the music of Fauré and the Boulanger sisters.