Hill Auditorium
Emanuel Ax, piano
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
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“A performance that beguiles and delights from beginning to end.” (The Strad) This classical superstar trio returns to the Hill Auditorium stage with an all-Beethoven program.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, composers often created — or allowed others to create — chamber arrangements of their orchestral works so that more people could hear their music. In this program, the celebrated trio performs both works originally written for piano trio as well as an arrangement of one of Beethoven’s iconic symphonies, maintaining the power and immediacy of his orchestral work in an intimate arrangement. “One could only marvel at how intuitive and spontaneous these performances were,” raved the Chicago Tribune, “with each player kindling immediate responses from his colleagues. … Chamber music doesn’t get any better than this.”
PROGRAM (Tue 1/30/2024: Hill Auditorium)
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (arr. Wosner)
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2
Thank You to Our Sponsors
TITLE SPONSOR
- Richard Caldarazzo and Eileen Weiser
PRESENTING SPONSOR
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PRINCIPAL SPONSOR
- Kristine and Michael Martin
- Shaomeng Wang and Ju-Yun Li
SUPPORTING SPONSOR
- Robert O. Weisman in loving memory of Darragh Weisman
PATRON SPONSOR
- Catherine S. Arcure Endowment Fund
Leonidas Kavakos is recognised across the world as a violinist and artist of rare quality, acclaimed for his matchless technique, his captivating artistry and his superb musicianship as well as for the integrity of his playing. He works with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and plays as recitalist in the world’s premier recital halls and festivals.
The three important mentors in his life have been Stelios Kafantaris, Josef Gingold, and Ferenc Rados, with whom he still works. By the age of 21, Leonidas Kavakos had already won three major competitions: the Sibelius Competition in 1985, and the Paganini and Naumburg competitions in 1988. This success led to him recording the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903/4), the first recording of this work in history, and which won Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991.
Born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber-music masterclass in Athens, which attracts violinists and ensembles from all over the world and reflects his deep commitment to the handing on of musical knowledge and traditions. Part of this tradition is the art of violin and bow-making, which Kavakos regards as a great mystery and to this day, an undisclosed secret. He plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivarius violin of 1734 and owns modern violins made by F. Leonhard, S.P. Greiner, E. Haahti and D. Bagué.
Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Ma strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity.
Ma holds a lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps us to imagine and build a stronger society. It was this belief that inspired the formation of Silkroad, the global music collective. Through his work with Silkroad, as well as throughout his career, Ma has sought to expand the cello repertoire, premiering compositions by Osvaldo Golijov, Leon Kirchner, Zhao Lin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Giovanni Sollima, and John Williams, among many others.
In addition to his work as a performing artist, Ma has partnered with communities and institutions around the world to develop programs that advocate for a future guided by humanity, trust, and understanding. Among his many roles, Ma is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, the first artist ever appointed to the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees, and a member of the board of Nia Tero, the US-based nonprofit working in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and movements worldwide.
Ma’s discography of more than 120 albums (including 19 Grammy Award winners) ranges from iconic renditions of the Western classical canon to recordings that defy categorization, such as “Hush” with Bobby McFerrin and the “Goat Rodeo Sessions” with Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. Ma’s recent releases include “Six Evolutions,” his third recording of Bach’s cello suites, and “Songs of Comfort and Hope,” created and recorded with pianist Kathryn Stott in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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