Cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s #SongsofComfort project “has now spread across six continents, and spurred an Internet phenomenon, with musicians around the world posting their own tokens of sonic solace under the hashtag,” writes Jeremy Eichler in Wednesday’s (1/27) Boston Globe. “Ma has sustained his song of comfort, his transmissions of positive energy, and his cello sound so deep and welcoming that large portions of a stir-crazy America may be just about ready to move in. Ma has also played for medical first responders, for doctors on grand rounds, and for COVID patients in intensive care.… He has toured the Berkshires with Emanuel Ax on the back of a flatbed truck, playing on a weather-resistant carbon fiber cello for UPS workers and other essential employees. He’s performed for President Biden’s inauguration, and for the quarantined masses over every imaginable medium. In the process, Ma has clearly emerged as the face of classical music’s response to the pandemic, yet his presence has also served as a reminder of the art form’s more elemental roles: in illuminating darkness, honoring grief, conveying fugitive moments of joy, and helping isolated souls reach across their disparate solitudes.”
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