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Yo-Yo
Ma and Francis Slay, Mayor of St. Louis
By
Scanews staff
Yo-Yo Ma lit up the St. Louis sky on September 12, when he appeared as featured cellist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in a special one-night concert. His appearance came on the night before the opening of the Symphony's 123rd season at Powell Symphony Hall. Tickets ranged in price from $20 to $125 and the house was completely sold out. In attendance were Mayor Francis Slay and County Executive Buzz Westfall.
When the concert ended, the audience stood up and applauded Ma for nearly three minutes which required three curtain calls. There was also an encore in which every melodious tone was produced from the cello. It was an amazing performance by
a very gifted artist and an exciting evening to be remembered for a long time. At the reception following the concert, one woman said, "His face is full of expression. He seems to be taken over by the music."
Mr. Ma is the winner of multiple Grammy Awards and has record sales in the multi-millions. He is one of the most recognized names in music today. The score for the movie, "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", was composed by Tan Dun and featured a passionate new performance by Yo-Yo Ma. "Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet" is a debut album from Yo and the Silk Road Ensemble.
Keith
Lockhart
Music director of the Utah Symphony and conductor of the Boston Pops, Keith Lockhart, led the orchestra on September 12. The program included Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, which Yo-Yo Ma performed in his first concert with the St. Louis Symphony in June 1973. Since then, Mr. Ma has played with the St. Louis Symphony many times, most recently in May 2000.
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