Just like every live concert across the country, Yo-Yo Ma’s two-year international tour of the Bach Solo Cello Suites came to an abrupt halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. And like other artists awaiting concert venues to reopen, Ma is taking his music online.
The world-renowned musician will perform, without interruption, “A Musical Memorial and Tribute: Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach’s Solo Cello Suites Live” on May 24 to honour those who have died from COVID-19 and as a salute to the resilience of communities fighting the pandemic.
The performance will stream live at noon (Pacific Daylight Time) on Sunday from Yo-Yo Ma’s YouTube channel and on kusc.org. Listeners also can tune in on the radio to LA’s 91.5FM Classical KUSC.
Ma’s “The Bach Project,” his 36-stop, six-continent tour, started in August 2018 in Colorado with a packed show at the Red Rocks amphitheatre. From there, he took the project across the globe, playing in Lebanon, China, Korea, Spain, Australia and South Africa. Ma said the project was part of a larger mission to explore and celebrate how culture can unite humanity.
While his world tour is on hold, Ma has been sharing his music on Twitter and Instagram. He has posted home videos of him playing the cello with #songsofcomfort music to serenade viewers during a global health crisis.
The cellist performed all six of Bach’s solo cello suites at the Hollywood Bowl in 2017. He played the two-hour-and-40-minutes show for an audience of nearly 17,000.
