LISTEN Summer 17

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LISTEN DEPAUW SCHOOL OF MUSIC NEWSLETTER

SUMMER 2017

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma to Open Green Guest Artist Series B. Suzanne Hassler, editor, Listen and Listen Online The recipient of numerous awards reflecting his own growth as a musician, Ma first performed at the Green Center in 2011 as part of the campuswide tradition known as DePauw Discourse. In June 2015, after cutting the customary ribbon at the opening of the music school’s downtown venue, Music on the Square, he christened the space with a poignant, impromptu performance of the first movement of Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 — the first piece of music he ever learned.

The internationally revered cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago are confirmed to open DePauw University’s 2017–18 Green Guest Artist Concert Series on Sept. 30. The performance will mark Ma’s third appearance at DePauw University. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg) Mark your calendars now! You will definitely want to catch the 2017-18 season opening concert of the Green Guest Artist Series on September 30, by the great cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. The 7:30 p.m. performance in Kresge Auditorium — the soloist’s third appearance at DePauw — will be presented in conjunction with the board meeting for the School of Music’s 21st-Century Musician Initiative for which Ma serves as honorary chair. A promoter of global awareness and cultural understanding, an internationally revered artist, and a rock star in the

classical world, Ma has said he would like to find a word other than “classical” to describe this repertoire. The cellist suggests just saying “music.” “Bach, Mozart, Beethoven were some of the greatest improvisers of their time, and in fact, were renowned for what they were able to do. But then they also wrote things down… so I would have a template.” In Ma’s opinion, classical musicians are just good musicians, able to compose, to improvise and be virtuosic in what they do —including absorbing other influences and organically incorporating these ideas into their work for constant growth.

Earlier this spring, Sing Me Home, the companion CD to the feature-length documentary film The Music of Strangers, recorded with the cellist’s renowned Silk Road Ensemble, received the 2017 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. This diverse group of international instrumentalists, composers and vocalists also returned to the DePauw campus this summer for the Third Annual Global Musician Workshop, May 30–June 5, 2017, which included a series of six free faculty and participant/artist concerts. Whether it is his presence as a performer or his vision for the future of music, Ma’s influence is deeply felt on the DePauw campus. For tickets to the upcoming Green Guest Artist Concert Series, stay tuned to music.depauw.edu. Sale of season passes and individual tickets will be announced in August. (Season highlights continue on page 2) Summer 2017 I 1


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