Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform J.S. Bach’s six cello suites live from the studios of public media producer WGBH on Sunday, May 24 at 3:00 p.m. ET, a memorial for those we have lost in the pandemic and a tribute to the resilience of our communities. Presented by WCRB Classical Radio Boston, the two-and-a-half-hour performance will air live and uninterrupted on WGBH channel 2 in Boston, and on public radio airwaves, made available to stations across the country by PRX. The performance will also stream live worldwide on Yo-Yo Ma’s YouTube channel and at ClassicalWCRB.org.
Ma’s offering of music comes in the midst of the now-rescheduled final leg of his Bach Project, a tour of the complete cello suites to 36 communities on six continents, part of a larger conversation about how culture can help us to imagine and build the world we want.
Ma will perform the six suites in isolation from WGBH’s Fraser Studio, with each element of the production managed remotely by a single person and using robotic cameras.
“In times of challenge, we’ve often come together in shared experiences,” said Jon Abbott, president and CEO of WGBH. “Yo-Yo Ma has a generosity of spirit, a solemnity that the moment deserves, and a warmth that reminds us of togetherness even as we feel alone. It is the strength we draw from each other that will help move us forward, and we are honored to host and produce this memorial event at WGBH and share it with the world through our public media network.”
“We are proud to work with Yo-Yo to share his sounds of solace from our studio to the world,” said Anthony Rudel, general manager at WCRB. “It is supremely fitting to have a great musician who has devoted his life to the international community bring the world closer together through the international language that is music, and more specifically Bach.”
How to Watch and Listen
Yo-Yo Ma’s live performance will broadcast on WGBH-TV Channel 2 in Boston and 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston. The performance will stream on Yo-Yo Ma’s YouTube channel and at ClassicalWCRB.org. Through the distribution efforts of public media organization PRX, select local radio stations across the nation will also air the performance including Iowa Public Radio; Maine Public Radio; Louisville Public Media; Texas Public Radio – KPAC, San Antonio; Nashville Public Radio – WPLN; Hawaii Public Radio; WNED, Buffalo; WCLV in Cleveland, OH; KUSC in Los Angeles, CA; KALW in San Francisco, CA; New England Public Radio in Amherst, MA; St. Louis Public Radio; WETA in Washington, DC; Virginia Public Media in Richmond, VA; KPBS in San Diego, CA; Blue Ridge Public Radio (WCQS) in Asheville, NC; KRPS in Pittsburgh, KS, WRTI, Philadelphia and WQXR in New York, NY. (Additional stations may be added/check local listings.) Stations who would like to air the program can reach out to PRX’s Station Services team at membership@prx.org. The performance will only be available live, uniting an audience in a shared experience.
Management for Yo-Yo Ma
Opus3Artists.com
About WCRB
WCRB 99.5 FM is a non-commercial, independent, listener-supported public radio station dedicated to excellence in classical music broadcasting. Serving Boston and the New England region, it offers accessible classical radio of the highest caliber and operates under the core belief that classical music can and should be part of everyone’s life. WCRB is a key community convener for classical music in New England, partnering with local arts organizations including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, the New England Conservatory, and more. Its online streaming reaches a global audience. WCRB is a service of national public media leader WGBH.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, and more than a dozen other primetime, lifestyle, and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBX 44, and the digital channels WORLD and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black, and High School Quiz Show. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR®; 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of digital content and programs for public radio through PRX, including The World and Innovation Hub, a leader in educational multimedia with PBS LearningMedia™, providing the nation’s educators with free, curriculum-based digital content, and a pioneer in services that make media accessible to deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, and visually-impaired audiences. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards and Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.
About PRX PRX is a non-profit media organization shaping the future of audio by producing and distributing content, building technology, and training talented, independent producers. PRX’s award-winning portfolio ranges from iconic public radio programs such as The Moth Radio Hour, This American Life, The World, The Takeaway and Reveal to a growing body of podcast-first productions, including the Radiotopia network. Each month, PRX reaches more than 28.5 million listeners and generates more than 70 million podcast downloads. Visit PRX.org for more.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
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