Music In The Air! Renowned Cellist YO-YO Ma Returns To The McCallum Theatre Accompanied By Kathryn Stott

Through the generosity of Arlene Schnitzer and Jordan Schnitzer, the McCallum Theatre presents renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, with Kathryn Stott accompanying on piano, on Thursday, November 9, at 8:00pm. Recognized for his artistic mastery and inspirational career, cellist Yo-Yo Ma returns to the McCallum Theatre for a captivating recital with long-time collaborator Kathryn Stott, one of Britain's most versatile and imaginative pianists.

Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma's multi-faceted career is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences, and his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music, or exploring cultures and musical forms outside the Western classical tradition, Mr. Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination.

Yo-Yo Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras throughout the world and his recital and chamber music activities. He draws inspiration from a wide circle of collaborators, creating programs with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Daniel Barenboim, Kayhan Kalhor, Ton Koopman, Yu Long, Edgar Meyer, Mark Morris, Cristina Pato, Kathryn Stott, Chris Thile, Michael Tilson Thomas, Wu Man, Wu Tong, and Damian Woetzel. Each of these collaborations is fueled by the artists' interactions, often extending the boundaries of a particular genre. One of Mr. Ma's goals is exploring music as a means of communication and as a vehicle for migrating ideas across a range of cultures throughout the world. To that end, he has taken time to immerse himself in subjects as diverse as native Chinese music with its distinctive instruments and the music of the Kalahari bush people in Africa.

Expanding upon this interest, in 1998, Mr. Ma established Silkroad, a nonprofit organization that seeks to create meaningful change at the intersections of the arts, education and business. Under his artistic direction, Silkroad presents performances by the acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble and develops new music, cultural partnerships, education programs, and cross-disciplinary collaborations. Silkroad's affiliation with Harvard University has made it possible to develop programs such as the Arts and Passion-Driven Learning Institute for educators and teaching artists, held in collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a new Cultural Entrepreneurship initiative in partnership with Harvard Business School. More than 80 new musical and multimedia works have been commissioned for the Silk Road Ensemble from composers and arrangers around the world.

Through his work with Silkroad, as throughout his career, Yo-Yo Ma seeks to expand the cello repertoire, frequently performing lesser known music of the 20th century and commissions of new concertos and recital pieces. He has premiered works by a diverse group of composers, including Elliott Carter, Richard Danielpour, Osvaldo Golijov, Leon Kirchner, Zhao Lin, Christopher Rouse, Giovanni Sollima, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun, John Williams and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky.

As the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, Mr. Ma partners with Maestro Riccardo Muti to provide collaborative musical leadership and guidance on innovative program development for The Negaunee Music Institute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and for Chicago Symphony artistic initiatives. Ma's work focuses on the transformative power music can have in individuals' lives, and on increasing the number and variety of opportunities audiences have to experience music in their communities. In 2016, he was appointed Artistic Advisor at Large to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of their expansive initiatives honoring the centenary of JFK's birth and to encourage the idea of creative citizenship.

Yo-Yo Ma is strongly committed to educational programs that bring young audiences into contact with music and allow them to participate in its creation. While touring, he takes time, whenever possible, to conduct master classes as well as more informal programs for students - musicians and non-musicians alike. At the same time, he continues to develop new concert programs for family audiences, for instance helping to inaugurate the family series at Carnegie Hall. In each of these undertakings, he works to connect music to students' daily surroundings and activities with the goal of making music and creativity a vital part of children's lives from an early age. He has also reached young audiences through appearances on "Arthur," "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and "Sesame Street."

Mr. Ma's discography of over 100 albums (including 18 Grammy winners) reflects his wide-ranging interests. Several successful recordings defy categorization, including Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, and two Grammy-winning tributes to the music of Brazil, Obrigado Braziland Obrigado Brazil - Live in Concert. His recent recordings include The Goat Rodeo Sessions(2013 Grammy for Best Folk Album) and Songs from the Arc of Life with pianist Kathryn Stott. His 2016 release, Sing Me Home, recorded with the Silk Road Ensemble, is the companion album to the documentary film The Music of Strangers. Created by Oscar-winning producer Morgan Neville, the film follows the Ensemble's more than 50 musicians, composers, visual artists and storytellers as they explore the ways art can preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution. One of the best-selling recording artists in the classical field, his albums quickly enter the Billboard chart of classical best sellers, often with as many as four titles simultaneously on the list.

Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four and moved with his family to New York, where he spent most of his formative years. Later, his principal teacher was Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. He sought out a traditional liberal arts education to expand upon his conservatory training, graduating from Harvard in 1976. He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the Glenn Gould Prize (1999), the National Medal of the Arts (2001), the Dan David Prize (2006), the Leonie Sonning Music Prize (2006), the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award (2008), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2010), the Polar Music Prize (2012) and the Vilcek Prize in Contemporary Music (2013). In 2011, Mr. Ma was recognized as a Kennedy Center Honoree. Appointed a CultureConnect Ambassador by the United States Department of State in 2002, Mr. Ma has met with, trained and mentored thousands of students worldwide in countries including Lithuania, Korea, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and China. Mr. Ma serves as a UN Messenger of Peace and has performed for eight American presidents, including at the inauguration ceremony for President Obama.

Mr. Ma plays a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

KATHRYN STOTT - Pianist
Born in Lancashire, Kathryn studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. Her teachers included Nadia Boulanger, Vlado Perlemuter and Kendall Taylor.

A regular visitor to international festivals, both as soloist and chamber musician, Kathryn has constantly performed around the world since 1978, when she was a prize winner in the Leeds International Piano Competition. Recent highlights as a soloist included return visits to the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall, London, an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand, performances with cellist Giovanni Sollima and appearances with JP Jofre and his Hard Tango Chamber Band in New York. Upcoming performances include concerts in Germany, France, Norway, Japan, the USA, Turkey, the UK, Australia and a further tour of New Zealand.

To celebrate their 30th anniversary of performing together, Kathryn recorded The Arc of Life with Yo-Yo Ma and her recent solo release Solitaires for BIS, continues her exploration of French works for piano.

With a vast repertoire, Kathryn has maintained a keen interest in contemporary music and has had many works written especially for her. In particular, her close musical relationship with the composer Graham Fitkin has led to seven world premieres. She is a remarkable exponent of tango and other Latin dance music, reflected in her collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma and leading South American musicians on the Grammy Award-winning Sony CD Soul of the Tango and its successor Obrigado Brazil.

In the recording studio, she has created a large and eclectic body of work including concertos and solo repertoire. Of particular note is her recording for Hyperion of the complete solo works by Fauré and the complete Kabalevsky Concertos for Chandos. Apart from her CDs with Yo-Yo Ma, she has, amongst others, recorded with Truls Mørk, Christian Poltéra, Guy Johnston, the Doric String Quartet, Noriko Ogawa, Tine Thing Helseth, the BBC Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

Kathryn Stott has been the artistic vision behind several major festivals and concert series. "Piano 2000" and "Piano 2003" ( Bridgewater Hall, Manchester) established her reputation as an astute programmer; and following the earlier "Fauré and the French Connection", she was appointed Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Government. From 2009-2014 she was Artistic Director of the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society and was Guest Artistic Director of Incontri in Terra di Siena in 2010 and 2011. Kathryn curated a series of six concerts called "Dance!" for Leeds International Concerts in 2014.

A dedicated teacher, Kathryn is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, holds the position of International Chair at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and regularly visits Chethams School of Music. Kathryn joined the piano faculty of the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo in August 2016.

Kathryn was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Australia, and co-Artistic Director of Fjord Classics in Sandefjord, Norway.

Kathy Stott lives in Manchester. A keen walker, she enjoys being out in the countryside and spending time with her working cocker spaniel, Archie.

Tickets for this performance of Yo-Yo Ma, cello, and Kathryn Stott, piano, on Thursday, November 9, at 8:00pm are priced at $152, $107, $87 and $67. Tickets are available at the Theatre's website at www.mccallumtheatre.com or by calling the McCallum Theatre Box Office at (760) 340-ARTS.

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