Yo-yo Ma plays Bach at US-Mexico border to encourage people to build ‘bridges, not walls’

LAREDO, TX (KGNS/Gray News) - A world-renowned musician made a stop to give people from both sides of the border an outdoor concert, KGNS reported.

Award-winning cellist Yo-yo Ma kicked off the Day of Action festivities on Saturday morning to help people discover the many ways “culture connects us,” the event’s information page said. Hundreds of people witnessed his performance at the Tres Laredos Park.

Then he crossed the bridge and gave Nuevo Laredo residents the same opportunity, performing at Nuevo Laredo’s main artery, Avenida Guerrero, by Plaza Benito Juarez.

Ma played an excerpt from Bach’s cello suites on the border of the United States and Mexico. He was joined by city leadership from both Laredo and Nuevo Laredo and audiences from both communities.

He also took part in a panel discussion talking about culture along the border.

Yo-Yo Ma plays concert at US-Mexico border

His stop in the two Laredos is part of the cellist’s Bach Project, one that is bringing him to 36 locations across the globe, where he plays Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo cello in one sitting.

“It is a journey motivated not only by his six-decade relationship with the music, but also by Bach’s ability to speak to our common humanity at a time when our civic conversation is so often focused on division,” Ma’s website said.

Locations on the tour, which started in August 2018, include the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, Germany, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

Later that day, he returned to Laredo and took part in the Earth Day Festival.

In addition to his musicianship - Ma’s music has earned 19 Grammys - he is a UN Messenger of Peace and the first artist ever appointed to the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees.

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