Yo-Yo Ma (photo credit: Austin Mann)
Superstar Cellist to Perform at Helzberg Hall
Yo-Yo Ma is one of those artists who was born to perform. The cellist has been engaging with audiences since his first public performance at the age of five. He played for presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy when he was only seven. His charisma made him a natural for TV. He appeared with his sister on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1964 and would become one of Carson’s favorite regular guests.
Ma has also been a Kansas City favorite since his first appearance on the Harriman-Jewell Series in 1984. He’ll make his 11th appearance in a solo recital Dec. 12 at Helzberg Hall.
“When you’re in the room with him, you feel connected to him,” Clark Morris, artistic director of the Harriman-Jewell Series said. “You feel like suddenly that the world’s a better place when you’re hearing him play music with emotion and passion and understanding. You think it can’t be better than this.”
Morris recalled the first time Ma appeared on the Series.
“That was 41 years ago,” Morris said. “It was a recital with pianist Emanuel Ax. It’s crazy to realize the Series has had this long relationship with Yo-Yo. I believe this will be the first time that he has ever done an unaccompanied solo show concert for us. It’ll just be Yo-Yo and his cello.”
Ma will perform three of Bach’s solo cello suites, music he has loved and explored since the beginning of his career. He’s recorded the suites three times over the years, in 1983, 1997 and 2017.
Ma is also known for championing world music composers as part of his collaboration with the Silk Road Ensemble. For his Helzberg Hall recital, he’ll play works by the Chinese composer Zhao Jiping and the Turkish composer A.A. Saygun.
He’ll also perform a piece by the American avant-garde composer George Crumb.
“The concert is right after Thanksgiving,” Morris said. “It’s a time of year when we like to celebrate with family and with food and with music, and this feels like a holiday treat. Tickets are selling like hotcakes, so if you want to come, you need to get your ticket soon because it will sell out quickly.”
Yo-Yo Ma. 7 p.m. Dec. 2. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
For more information, hjseries.org.
