“On Friday, internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma visited Braddock [Pennsylvania] to tour the city’s art spaces and join a cultural discussion about gun violence, art and music’s power to bring communities together after tragedy,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Saturday’s (6/9) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Mr. Ma is in Pittsburgh for a performance with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Saturday evening. His visit to Braddock was part of the Kennedy Center’s Art Across America program, which highlights art and culture in everyday cities. Braddock, a struggling steel town of about 2,000 people that is undergoing some redevelopment, is the third city that the program has selected.” Ma spoke with students, visited arts groups and sites, performed with local musicians, and “sat in the Woodland Hills String Orchestra to play with the students…. ‘This is the transformative stuff,’ said Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter. ‘We’re trying to bring the music out of the concert hall, and we … and saw what this mayor is doing in the community and had to visit and learn more…. We’re seeking to highlight the importance of art in everyday life.’ ” Yo-Yo Ma will deliver an address at the League of American Orchestras’ National Conference, June 13-15 in Chicago. Click here for more.
Posted June 11, 2018
Pictured: In Braddock, Pennsylvania, Yo-Yo Ma meets local artistic communities through the Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America program. Photo from Yo-Yo Ma’s own Twitter feed
