Foremost cellist shares creative process

BY: Tim McDonald, Arts Writer

Yo-Yo Ma is one of the world's truly inspiring human beings. His cello playing is both sublime and profoundly beautiful. His personal warmth and charisma are engaging, and his outreach to youth is significant – even resulting in appearances on children's television shows such as “Sesame Street” and “Arthur.”

In addition to his many classical recordings and sold-out performances around the world, during the last decade Ma has immersed himself in the Silk Road Project, a not-for-profit arts, cultural and educational organization he founded in 1998. The project has a vision of connecting the world's neighborhoods by bringing together artists and audiences around the globe. Inspired by the cultural traditions of the historic Silk Road trade routes through central Europe and Asia, the Silk Road Project is a catalyst promoting innovation and learning through the arts.

In a recent interview, Ma discussed the Silk Road Project and the recently released third recording by the Silk Road Ensemble, “New Impossibilities.”

I asked how the project originated.

“It was another harebrained idea from old Yo-Yo. You want to do what?” he said with a laugh. “Actually, it evolved from traveling places and seeing how the rest of the world views itself, which is often different from the way we view others.

“How do we deal with the differences in music, traditions, values and even intonation or tuning among cultures? I've learned to look at the different types of music and ask 'who's doing it and why?'

“Next we put together a band of brothers and sisters with a culture of virtuosity and generosity.”

The resulting concerts and recordings have been eye opening and exhilarating.

The new Silk Road Ensemble recording is a byproduct of a year-long residency in Chicago. In fact, according to Ma, the recording's title “comes from a line in Mark Twain's 'Life on the Mississippi,' where the author notes that Chicago is always changing. He calls it 'a city of new impossibilities.'”

The yearlong residency in Chicago involved strong partnerships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Art Institute of Chicago and the city's Cultural Affairs Department. The affiliation resulted in more than 250 performances, workshops, in-school presentations and lectures.

“I was very proud of that,” Ma said. “We worked with 567 students and their teachers over a period of months.”

The residency led to “New Impossibilities.”

“We created works and sought out compositions that would work with the Chicago Symphony,” he said.

The disc includes works by Lebanese composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, as well as works from China (Zhou Long and HaiHai Huang), India (Sandeep Das) and Iran (Kayhan Kalhor).

The performances are absolutely stellar, making this Silk Road Ensemble disc even better than the last two, “Silk Road Journeys” and “Beyond the Horizon.” The exuberant dancelike rhythms of “Arabian Waltz” contrast with the soulful elegy of “Silent City,” originally written as a lament for the exterminated village of Hallabja in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“We all feel we're better musicians as a result of the Silk Road Project,” Ma said. “We were taken to musical areas we didn't know well, and have widened our own musical worlds. We have more tools with which to express ourselves. Most importantly, I feel more human, more connected to others.”

Berlin Philharmonic

Wind Quintet

Drawn from one of the world's finest orchestras, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet is unquestionably one of the finest wind ensembles ever heard. This outstanding group will appear at the Carlsen Center of Johnson County Community College Oct. 12.

The performers play with an incredible sense of blend and musicality.

Their program includes Franz Danzi's “Quintet in F Major, Op. 68, No. 2,” Paul Taffanel's “Quintet in G Minor,” Aaron Copland's “Summer Music” and Jean Francaix' “Quintet No. 2.”

The concert will take place at 8 p.m. Oct. 12 in the Polsky Theatre of the Carlsen Center. For tickets or information, call 469-4445.