The Louisville Orchestra Gala Gives Taste Of Yo-Yo Ma's Sold-Out Mammoth Cave Performances

Apr 28, 2023 at 3:40 pm
Yo-Yo Ma practices for the Saturday, April 29 performances in Mammoth Cave.
Yo-Yo Ma practices for the Saturday, April 29 performances in Mammoth Cave. Photo provided by Louisville Orchestra (Photographer: Jon Cherry)

Thursday, April 27, The Louisville Orchestra hosted a gala event with a special performance by Yo-Yo Ma, who has been in residency at the orchestra for the last four days. After the gala cocktail hour and dinner at the Frazier Museum, guests traveled to Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for Performing Arts to hear Yo-Yo Ma and the full Louisville Orchestra perform "Shostakovich’s "Cello Concerto No. 1."

The Kentucky Center performance included pieces played by the Orchestra alone, a performance of The Real Young Prodigy's "Crown" with the young hip-hop outfit being accompanied by the Orchestra. Yo-Yo Ma joined after, and performed "Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1," and a piece that will be performed at Mammoth cave — an aria composed by Teddy Abrams called, "Lacrimosa." The Orchestra finished with the final movement in Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67."

Yo-Yo Ma's residency with the Louisville Orchestra culminates with two performances in Mammoth Cave on Saturday, April 29. The performances at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. CDT are sold out.

LEO was in attendance for the Gala and Kentucky Center performance and here's a taste of what we saw.

@leoweekly The Louisville Orchestra Gala gave us a treat with a Yo-Yo Ma performance and a little hint of what is to come from Saturday's sold-out Mammoth Cave show. #yoyoma #louisvilleorchestra #logala #leoweekly #louisville ? Carnival of the Animals: XIII. The Swan - Yo-Yo Ma