CSO plans very special Thursday night with Yo-Yo Ma

photo Internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma

Once the music starts for the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera's gala concert featuring Yo-Yo Ma, CSO Music Director Kayoko Dan will be her usual professional self. Until then, she might have a hard time being anything but a giddy fan.

"I never thought I would be able to collaborate with such an amazing artist," she says. "I still can't believe it is happening ... I have his entire box set. I mean, all 90 CDs. I'm a big fan not only of his [musical] work but of his work as a philanthropist. As a person, he is one of the nicest human beings on Earth."

Dan says that Ma, the internationally renowned, 16-Grammy Award-winning cellist, would be at the top of her wish list of people to share a stage with, "though I would have been really scared to put him on a wish list because I would never believe it could happen."

It will happen tonight, Oct. 2, at the Tivoli Theatre, when Ma joins the CSO for a performance of Dvorak's Cello Concerto during the second half of the show. The CSO will perform Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," during the first half.

The concert is a fundraising opportunity for the CSO. Ma is on a four-stop Southeast tour, with a performance in Nashville last night, so the scheduling worked in the CSO's favor for getting him here.

Dan says Ma chose the piece he would do, and she wanted to pair it with a complimentary piece that would also impress the audience, particularly new CSO listeners.

"Both pieces were composed around the same time when Dvorak was in the United States," she says. "The symphony has a certain feel to it - an optimistic feel - and it is full of spirit. It ends with these really strange innuendos and leaves you with a question that we hope to provide the answer to in the second half with the Cello Concerto."

Dan has some advice for patrons attending tonight's show.

"What I like about him, and I've seen him play live twice, is the way he interacts with the musicians and the conductor. It's almost like he is playing chamber music with everyone.

"He'll turn toward the flute or for [any] duet with the cello and look [the musician] in the eye. It feels very intimate, and you can physically see that connection onstage."

As for the first part of the show, the piece should be well-known to people when they hear it. "The second movement is absolutely gorgeous," she says. "Just relax and enjoy."

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6354.

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