Yo-Yo Ma, Arooj Aftab, Karen Ouzounian, and Christine Lee perform Tavener, Kalhor, and Golijov

Boston Symphony Orchestra Anna Handler, conductor Samy Rachid, conductor Yo-Yo Ma, cello (Tavener) Karen Ouzounian, cello (Kalhor) Christine Lee, cello (Golijov) Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh Arooj Aftab, vocalist Boston University Tanglewood Institute Chorus TAVENER Mahámátar, for cello, voice, chorus, and orchestra Kayhan KALHOR Venus in the Mirror, for kamanche, cello, and orchestra Osvaldo GOLIJOV Azul, for cello and orchestra (originally a BSO 125th Anniversary Commission made possible through the generous support of Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser)

We The People’s closing concert is a celebration of human creativity and a prayer for our future. From Mahámátar — John Tavener’s astonishing choral invocation, featuring Grammy-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab  —  to Venus in the Mirror — Kayhan Kalhor’s visceral plea for peace and equality, featuring cellist Karen Ouzounian and Kalhor on the kamancheh — to Azul — Osvaldo Golijov’s world-expanding sonic tapestry, featuring BSO cellist Christine Lee — this afternoon’s program offers us space to imagine a better future. 

“We offer a prayer for the future, one that encompasses all the world’s people, that acknowledges sacrifice and seeks inspiration, that contains the arc of the human and natural world, from the primordial planet, through the emergence of humanity, all the way into space and a planetary, humanist, universal future.”  — Yo-Yo Ma