Cellists will get opportunity to play with Yo-Yo Ma
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Capital Region cellists of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in a rare musical event that will allow them to play alongside world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma as well as professional cellists in The Philadelphia Orchestra.
The one-hour PlayIN event will take place on Aug. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on the amphitheatre stage. Openings are limited; interested musicians are encouraged to sign up online via SPAC’s website at Spac.org.
“SPAC’s stage has hosted countless history-making performances over its five decades. On August 9, we will make a remarkable addition to that list as local musicians of all ages and abilities come together for an extraordinary musical collaboration with musical icon Yo-Yo Ma and professional cellists from The Philadelphia Orchestra,” said Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of SPAC. “A once-in-a-lifetime experience for participants, this shared music making event will excite and inspire while conveying the powerful message that music is for everyone.”
PlayINs are signature events for The Philadelphia Orchestra and part of the ensemble’s HEAR initiative, a portfolio of programs promoting the role of music in Health, Education, Access and Research. The PlayINs have taken place regularly in Philadelphia since 2012 and are part of a full array of programs designed to promote access for people of all ages to experience orchestral music either as listeners or performers. PlayINs have involved amateur musicians who play the violin, flute, double bass, viola, harp, and in the woodwind and brass sections of the Orchestra. The Aug. 9 PlayIN will be the first such event at SPAC.
Participants will perform works by Breval, J.S. Bach, Schubert, Paganini, Vivaldi, Suzuki and more. A PDF of all of the music to be performed will be emailed to participants within 24 hours after registering. Registration for the PlayIN is open to cellists of all ages and abilities who register on SPAC’s website. Once the list is full, interested individuals will have the opportunity to add their names to a wait list in the event of cancellations. The event is free and open to the public.
The Aug. 9, 1:30 p.m. PlayIN precedes Yo-Yo Ma’s guest appearance later that evening at 8 p.m. with The Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The cellist will perform Dvo ák’s Cello Concerto in a program that also includes John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Barber’s Symphony No. 1.
For more information on the PlayIN as well as a schedule of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s SPAC programming, Aug. 2 to 19, visit spac. org.
For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, visit philorch.org.