An American Journey with Yo-Yo Ma and Friends

Boston Symphony Orchestra Teddy Abrams, conductor Ken-David Masur, conductor Yo-Yo Ma, cello Aoife O'Donovan, vocals Jennifer Kreisberg, vocals James Taylor, vocals Jon Batiste Heather Cox Richardson, guest speaker Bryan Stevenson, guest speaker Diana Wyenn, director and dramaturg COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man IVES The Unanswered Question  Brent Michael DAVIDS Indigenous/Undigenous II – Lenape  FOSTER Slumber My Darling Aoife O’DONOVAN Lakes of Ponchartrain (with Bonnie Bewick, violin)  PAINE Columbian March and Hymn DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto, third movement      intermission BERNSTEIN Improvisation on Somewhere from West Side Story Jennifer KREISBERG naká·yè·ʔr sihskę̀·nęʔ (May it be that you have peace)  Julia WOLFE Liberty Bell  Jon BATISTE Selected songs  FOSTER Hard Times Come Again No More  Carole KING You've Got a Friend  We Shall Overcome communal singing COPLAND Symphony No. 3, fourth movement 

This journey in music and words brings Ma and the BSO together with special guests including Jon Batiste, Jennifer Kreisberg (a founding member of the Native women’s trio ULALI), Aoife O’Donovan (of Crooked Still and I’m With Her), James Taylor, historian Heather Cox Richardson, and Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. 

This quintessentially American program — featuring compositions with close ties to Tanglewood and the BSO, including works by Brent Michael Davids, Julia Wolfe, Bernstein, Copland, and Ives — reflects the triumphs, tragedies, and possibilities of our country, asking who we are, where we are going, and who we can be. 

“America is an experiment, and to be an American is to always ask: Who are we? What is our purpose? What gives us meaning?” — Yo-Yo Ma