Public Affairs

Yo Yo Ma performs during his fifth visit to Denison

World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma visited Denison for the fifth time since his first visit to the college in 1985. The Yo-Yo Ma and Friends concert and the “Talk and Play” session were presented by Denison’s Vail Series.

During the February 29 “Talk and Play” session in Herrick Hall’s auditorium, Mr. Ma and his ensemble colleagues violinists Jonathan Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, and Nicholas Cords, viola, presented a casual insiders’ view of their performances and of their lives as artists. They played excerpts from their concert program and amiably answered questions posed by the standing-room-only audience of 300 people from campus and the nearby community.

The following evening, on March 1, Denison’s Swasey Chapel was completely full as Yo-Yo Ma and Friends performed quartet masterpieces by Sulkhan Tsintsadze, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Giovanni Sollima, Tigran Mansurian and Franz Schubert. The audience was predominately students, and the artists were received with rock-star enthusiasm.

Through the endowed support of the Denison University Vail Series, tickets to both events were free to Denison students, faculty and staff. Since its inception in 1979, the Vail Series has presented more than 100 of the most highly regarded artists and ensembles in the world. Begun with a gift from the late Foster and Mary McGaw in memory of Jeanne Vail ’46 and continued through the ongoing and generous support of the late James D. Vail III, and his wife Peggy, the Vail Program continues to influence and enrich the liberal arts experience at Denison, as it will for generations to come.