Tickets go on sale at 10AM, October 21

Sponsored by the Wall Lynch Family and Ron & Susan Whitaker

Sponsored in part by Flatbush Foundation, Marla & Morris Geffen, Diana Lee Langer Jones, Margie & B.H. Levy, Jr., John & Denise MacKerron, Samir Nikocevic and Susan Snow & John Nell

Yo-Yo Ma, Cello

Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing us together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Yo-Yo seeks to foster connections that reinforce our humanity.

Yo-Yo’s recent initiatives include the Bach Project, a six-continent tour of Bach’s cello suites asking how culture strengthens communities today, and Our Common Nature, a journey celebrating the ways that culture can reconnect us to the natural world. Both endeavors reflect his lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music can help us imagine and build a better future. 

Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, where he began studying the cello with his father at age four. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies before pursuing a liberal arts education.

Yo-Yo has recorded more than 120 albums, is the winner of 20 Grammy Awards, and has performed for ten American presidents. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006.

Solon Gordon, Piano

Solon Gordon leads a multifaceted career in music and technology. As a pianist, he specializes in collaborative playing and finds joy in working with a wide range of musicians, from young students to touring professionals. In recent years he has enjoyed partnerships with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, baritone Jack Hornor, clarinetist/composer Jonathan Russell, and violinist Lily Tsai. He also performs frequent solo recitals for his neighbors at Youville Assisted Living. In his work as a software engineer, Solon has contributed to fields including education technology anddistributed databases. He also maintains an extensive live music calendar for the Boston area at bostonshows.org. Solon is ever grateful to his principal musical mentors: Monique Duphil, at Oberlin Conservatory, and Sandra Dennis, at the Community Music School of Springfield, Massachusetts.