Can Bach Save the World if Yo Yo Ma Brings It to Us?

By Aimee Lauren Stern, Chief Bravery Officer, Brave Now PR

He is certainly giving it his best shot. The Bach Project, which Yo Yo Ma rolled out in August 2018, is a two year project in which the cellist commits to playing all of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Suites for Cello in 36 cities around the world. Yo Yo Ma discussed The Bach Project at the Atlantic Festival last week.

Alongside each concert is a Day of Action, which can be a series of conversations and collaborations that explore how culture can help us imagine and build a better future. Days of Action range from building 36 wooden tables in Pittsfied, Massachusetts, to discuss the concept of a resilient community to planting a community garden.

The Bach Project tour has reached, Chicago, New York City, Flint, Michigan, and Washington DC, among other cities, and is headed to Australia and Indonesia this fall. It will conclude in summer 2020.

When Yo Yo Ma first began playing the cello at the age of four the first song he played was Bach’s prelude to the first Cello Suite. He is still playing it. “Music can feel, inspire, create wonder,” Ma said.

Bach’s six Cello Suites are for unaccompanied cello and are either performed by Yo Yo Ma solo or with other musicians. y Johann Sebastian Bach. They are some of the most frequently performed and recognizable solo compositions ever written for cello.

Culture needs a seat at the table, says Ma. His point is that sharing what we love about art, music,  and telling each other our stories brings us together. The overriding message of the tour is that culture brings us together, and telling each other our stories turns other into us. bring all of us together as a species, through whatever art form we choose to inspire us. His is obviously music.

About the Author
Aimee Stern is the president of Brave Now PR and Content based in Washington DC. She specializes in helping senior executives find their industry voices, develop a platform and share it broadly.