“He bounds onto the stage with the grace of an athlete and the verve of a motivational speaker,” writes Lisa Bertagnoli in Friday’s (6/23) Crain’s Chicago Business. “The audience stands, cheering, before the first note sounds. Even if they’ve never heard him play, they’ve heard of Yo-Yo Ma. The legendary cellist is headlining the Concert for Peace, a fundraiser for highly at-risk youth, at St. Sabina in Auburn Gresham. It’s Ma’s third visit here in four months. The concert is his latest effort to help make Chicago a better educated, less violent city. For seven years, as the Judson & Joyce Green creative consultant at Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ma has traveled to the city five times a year, collaborating and performing with musicians from the CSO and Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and with students at music schools…. The CSO, one of the world’s great musical organizations, provides Ma a solid platform for both music and his outreach. His work dovetails with that of Riccardo Muti, Zell music director at CSO, who has made it his mission to reach into the city’s neighborhoods with the orchestra. … More than 1,000 people from all over the Chicago area attended the June 11 Concert for Peace, a fundraiser for at-risk youth.”
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma with members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at the June 11 Concert for Peace at St. Sabina Church. Photo: Manuel Martinez.
Posted June 27, 2017
