BY KAREN BOSSICK
Yo-Yo Ma, considered one of the most acclaimed artists of our time, will perform with the Sun Valley Music Festival’s 2024 Gala Concert.
“An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma” will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, at the Sun Valley Pavilion.
The world-renowned cellist will perform Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B Minor with the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra under the leadership of Music Director Alasdair Neale.
“It’s such a pleasure to welcome the legendary Yo-Yo Ma to Sun Valley,” said Neale, who will conduct the Dvořák piece, a staple of the repertoire and one of the most frequently performed cello concertos. “Yo-Yo is one of those rare classical artists who has become a household name, not just here in the U.S. but around the world. As someone who has been in awe of his unique gifts as a musician and human being, I can say that making music with him at our Gala Concert will be one of the highlights of my career.”
The Aug. 5 concert is sure to be a highlight of the Sun Valley Music Festival’s 40th anniversary season, which runs July 29-Aug. 22, as well. Music fans will be able to watch it inside the 1,600-seat Pavilion or from the Pavilion lawn, which features a state-of-the-art sound system and a new enlarged LED screen.
Yo-Yo Ma was born in Paris in 1955 to Chinese parents who had migrated from the Republic of China to France during the Chinese Civil War. His father was a violinist, composer and professor of music, and his mother, a singer. The family moved to New York City when Ma was 7.
A child prodigy, Yo-Yo Ma began performing the cello at 4 after first trying the drums, violin and piano. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University, where he pursued a liberal arts education.
He played for presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was 7 and for a TV event featuring Leonard Bernstein when he was 8. In all, he has performed for nine American presidents, most recently at President Biden’s inauguration
He has won an astounding 19 Grammy Awards and garnered 30 nominations, while recording more than 120 albums that span the spectrum from American bluegrass and folk music to traditional Chinese melodies, Argentinean tangos, Brazilian music and even Metallica.
Known for his smooth rich tone, he has collaborated with such artists as Carlos Santana, Chris Botti (who performed at the Music Festival’s Gala Concert several years ago), James Taylor, Miley Cyrus and even Sting. And he’s been featured in such soundtracks as “Seven Years in Tibet” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
His hit parade includes his Bach Suite recordings from 1983. And his latest album “Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 and Op. 1, No. 3,” is the second in a new series of Beethoven recordings with pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Leonidas Kavakos.
Fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and French, Ma has been involved in a number of unique projects including one in which he collaborated with landscape architects to design a Bach-inspired garden where the garden’s sections are designed to correspond with Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major for cello.
He formed the Silk Road Ensemble to bring together musicians from countries that were linked by the Silk Road and he founded an educational pilot program for children from U.S. middle schools.
Most recently, he began Our Common Nature, a cultural journey to celebrate the ways nature can reunite us in pursuit of a shared future. The project follows the Bach Project, a 36-community six-continent tour of J.S. Bach’s cello suites paired with local cultural programming.
The project reflects Yo-Yo’s lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps earthlings imagine and build a stronger society.
“As musicians, we transcend technique in order to seek out the truths in our world in a way that gives meaning and sustenance to individuals and communities,” said Ma, whose multi-faceted 60-year career is a testament to the power of culture to generate trust and understanding. “That’s art for life’s sake.”
As an advocate for a future guided by trust and understanding, Yo-Yo is a United Nations Messenger of Peace and the first artist ever appointed to the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees. He’s also a member of the board of Nia Tero, a U.S.-based nonprofit working with indigenous peoples and movements.
President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. And People magazine named him the Sexiest Classical Musician in 2001.
HOW TO SEE YO-YO MA:
The Gala Concert is the only Sun Valley Music Festival concert that charges admission. It raises funds to keep the remainder of the concerts in the summer and winter seasons free and accessible. Ticket sales also keep the Festival music workshops free for youth and adults.
Ticket prices for the Gala range from $100 to $1,250.
All $300 and over ticket holders will be invited to a 5 p.m. pre-concert cocktail reception at the Sun Valley Lodge Terrace. The $1,250 Sponsor Package ticket holders will be invited to that and an 8 p.m. post-concert dinner at the Grill at Knob Hill, which will feature a special performance by Music Festival musicians. And they will enjoy VIP parking and premium reserved concert seats.
Those with $300 and $600 tickets will also enjoy reserved preferred seating in the Pavilion, along with the pre-concert cocktail reception.
Reserved Pavilion eats cost $100 and $125. General admission lawn tickets are $100.
Gala Concert ticket sales open to the public at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 17, online at https://www.svmusicfestival.org or by calling 208-622-5607. Sponsor package tickets are available only by phone; lawn ticket are available only online.
Annual Fund donors of $1,250 and above and Encore Society members will have the opportunity to purchase Gala tickets early, with information about that provided by email.