By Quin Welch, Building Kentucky
Famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma will enter into a five-day immersive residency with the Louisville Orchestra in April, including two performances within the iconic caverns of Mammoth Cave.
Yo-Yo Ma will join Louisville Orchestra music director Teddy Abrams and the full orchestra for a performance including Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 at the Kentucky Center’s Whitney Hall on April 27. The performance will be preceded by a gala. The concerts at Mammoth Cave on April 29 will feature music composed by Abrams featuring members of the Louisville Orchestra, the Louisville Chamber Choir, a solo percussionist, and Yo-Yo Ma.
“Visitors have always been drawn to Mammoth Cave to experience its ancient stillness and expansiveness,” said Abrams. “It’s no surprise that this otherworldly treasure has inspired art of all forms, some of which can still be seen in the cave. Performing music in a cave where untold generations of people before us have created their own music connects us in a vital way to our past.”
“We are thrilled to offer this amazing opportunity to experience the sounds of Yo-Yo Ma and the Louisville Orchestra inside Mammoth Cave,” said Park Superintendent Barclay Trimble. “Music is universally loved and recognized as a way to connect and bring people together. Mammoth Cave has been a source of artistic inspiration for thousands of years and now through a composition created by Teddy Abrams and historic performance by Yo-Yo Ma, we can add another fantastic musical moment to the cave’s history.”
Yo-Yo Ma and the Louisville Orchestra will perform at Rafinesque Hall inside Mammoth Cave on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. CDT.
Tickets for the event will be distributed by lottery through Recreation.gov and people may apply for a chance at tickets beginning Monday, Jan. 30. The lottery closes at 10 a.m. on Feb. 5.
