Classical Music Happy Hour

In the Smoky Mountains, traditions layer and intersect. Yo-Yo Ma believes that story and song can help us grapple with America’s complicated history. This episode highlights two stories of people who are reclaiming their connections to the land. The first brings us to Cherokee, North Carolina, where Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe are working to change the name of the tallest mountain in the range back...

A cave can hold secrets. Louisville Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams knows that, which is why he wrote a piece for symphony orchestra to be performed entirely underground. This episode takes us into Mammoth Cave to hear a performance that unlocks a centuries of stories preserved by the caves' seemingly endless walls. One of those is the story of Jerry Bransford , who brought the Bransford name bac...

The series opens with a window into the Yo-Yo universe, one where music and nature work together. Host Ana González guides us into Yo-Yo Ma’s mindset, connecting Bach to leaves, birds, and sunlight. That takes us to a sunrise in Acadia National Park in Maine, where Chris Newell leads Yo-Yo and Wabanaki musicians in a musical performance to welcome the dawn.  Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Newe...

When the world stopped in 2020, cellist Yo-Yo Ma started thinking about how music can reconnect people to nature. In this limited podcast series, Yo-Yo travels around the country to make music and meet people who have deep connections to the earth.  Host Ana González joins him to uncover stories of the ways that culture binds us to nature, from Maine to Appalachia and Hawaii.  The result is a seve...