Birmingham News Feature 3-29-09

March 29, 2009 http://blog.al.com/mhuebner/about.html

Yo-Yo Ma embraces world cultures, Western classics Posted by Michael Huebner -- Birmingham News CELLIST TO SOLO WITH ALABAMA SYMPHONY IN DVORAK CONCERTO

Yo-Yo Ma's expansive world view has helped make him one of the most visible and respected classical musicians on the planet. At age 4, he moved to the United States from Paris with his family to take up violin, viola and cello. Fifteen Grammy awards later, he divides his time touring and recording standard and modern classics and traditional world music with Silk Road Ensemble.ﾐ

ALABAMA SYMPHONY: SPECIAL EVENT On the program: Smetana, "The Moldau"; Martinu, "Sinfonietta la Jolla"; Dvorak,Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104. Justin Brown, conductor; Yo-Yo Ma, cellist. When: Thursday, 8 p.m. Tickets: SOLD OUT. Call 251-7727 to place your name on a waiting list. Where: Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma was hoping against hope as the thermometer hovered around the freezing mark on Jan. 20. The 53-yearold cellist, along with violinist Itzhak Perlman, clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gabriella Montero, thought they could still pull off a live performance of John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" at President Obama's inauguration, in case of a sudden heat wave. It wasn't to be. "When it was 32 degrees, we thought it was still possible," Ma said last week from Minneapolis, where he was performing with the Silk Road Ensemble. "When we knew it was going to 19 degrees, it became impossible. Once the temperature goes down, the instruments don't function. Clarinets don't sound. Piano keys get stuck. Stringed instruments will crack." When it was revealed that the quartet performed along with a pre-recorded tape that was amplified to more than 1 million on the National Mall and broadcast to worldwide media, it made news. Naysayers cried "Milli Vanilli." Ma called it "no news."

SPECIALCellist Yo-Yo Ma, right, performs alongside violinist Itzhak Perlman at President Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20. Although John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" was performed unamplified, the possibility of instrument malfunctions in below freezing temperatures required that a pre-recorded tape be broadcast to media and more than a million listeners at the National Mall. "It's something the Marine Band that plays at formal occasions does routinely," he said. "John Williams put every part of his being into it and flew from Los Angeles when we recorded it, just to make sure everything went just right. This was an occasion where instrument malfunction was not an option." Still, Ma thought the whole thing was a "spectacular" experience. "We could see a wall of people, all the way down the mall to the Washington Monument," he said. "We were perched on top of the podium where everything was happening. We could see Jimmy Carter, George and Barbara Bush and the Clintons walk up. It's amazing to see this transition process." On Thursday, the renowned cellist will perform -- unamplified -- in balmier conditions. The Alys Stephens Center's Jemison Concert Hall is kept at 72 degrees and 45 percent humidity, ideal for soloing with the Alabama Symphony in Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Justin Brown will conduct the special event, which will also include Smetana's "The Moldau" and Martinu's "Sinfonietta la Jolla." GLOBAL EXPANSE The Dvorak concerto is at the heart of the cello repertoire. It's a work Ma has performed countless times and recorded with the New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic. And it's a sharp turn from the world-oriented Silk Road Ensemble he

started in 1998, and collaborations with the likes of Chris Botti, Diana Krall, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and James Taylor. He views the concerto as a musical unifier. "Music serves the purpose of bringing people together," he said. "Dvorak brings together Bohemian and American traditions. In fact, he wrote this concerto in New York. In the short time he was in the United States, his students became the teachers of Gershwin, Copland and Ellington. In a way, he's a musical grandfather of many different traditions within the States." Ma's embrace of cultures from outside the classical music world was set early on. Born in Paris to Chinese parents, Ma moved to New York when he was 4. At 5, he played for President Kennedy; at 8, for Leonard Bernstein. His career was set after studying with Leonard Rose at Juilliard. Among his 15 Grammy awards are three in the "crossover" category, won for performance of Brazilian, Argentine and Appalachian music. He isn't the first classical musician who has defied convention. Dvorak was inspired by Native American and AfricanAmerican melodies. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin partnered with sitarist Ravi Shankar on an album titled "East Meets West." Composers from Claude Debussy to Philip Glass drew on Indonesian gamelan music. The list goes on. But the success of Ma's Silk Road Ensemble has made the cellist an icon for world music and culture. He is heard on the soundtracks of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" and was named United National Ambassador for Peace in 2006. "I've always tried to understand the world around me," he said. "As we try to wrap our minds around the idea of one planet that's interlocked, we have to deal with common challenges -- energy, food, security, health, all those issues. It's very hard these days to say that anything we have as a tradition has to be walled in. The role of culture is to actually get inside someone's way of thinking, which is exactly what classical music does." Ma hopes he is setting the groundwork for changing worldviews. "My son and daughter are 25 and 23," he said. "They think differently than I do, but that's great. They're dealing with a different world and a different perspective, and they have to make sense of it. This is their planet, and it's theirs to sustain and nurture so their children have the tools to deal with yet another changing situation." YO-YO MA ESSENTIALS Family: Father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, emigrated to Paris from China in 1936. Mother, Marina, a mezzo-soprano, was born Ya-Wen Lo. Sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, founder and director of Children's Orchestra Society in Manhassat, N.Y. Wife, Jill Hornor, a Harvard German professor. Home, suburban Boston. Son, Nicholas, 25. Daughter, Emily, 23. Studies: Played violin and viola before taking up cello at age 4. Studied at Juilliard, Columbia and Harvard. Honorary doctorates: Princeton University, American University of Beirut. Cellos: Principal instrument is 1733 Domenico Montagnana, briefly lost in 1999 after it was accidentally left in a taxi. 1712 Davidov Stradivarius, once owned by Jacqueline du Pre and played by Mstislav Rostropovich. Film credits: "Seven Years in Tibet," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Memoirs of a Geisha." TV credits: "The West Wing," "Sesame Street," "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," "The Simpsons," "Sex and the City," "Frasier," "The Colbert Report." Michael Huebner is fine arts writer and classical music critic. E-mail him at [email protected]. Blog: blog.al.com/mhuebner.