This Just In: The following is a news release written by an arts organization, submitted to and edited by Chicago On the Aisle.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform Bach’s suites for unaccompanied cello in a free concert in the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park on June 30. The event announced Jan. 10 is a presentation of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association.

Ma’s appearance marks a continuation of “The Bach Project,” in which the cellist, who holds the title of Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant with the Chicago Symphony, performs 36 concerts featuring the complete cello suites in distinctive venues around the world through 2020.

“The Bach Project” is motivated not only by Ma’s six-decade relationship with the music, but also by Bach’s ability to speak to our shared humanity at a time when our civic conversation is so often focused on division.

“Bach’s cello suites have been my constant musical companions,” says Ma, who released his third recording of the works, Six Evolutions, in August 2018. “For almost six decades, they have given me sustenance, comfort, and joy during times of stress, celebration, and loss. What power does this music possess that even today, after 300 years, it continues to help us navigate through troubled times?”

For Ma, Bach’s music is one extraordinary example of how culture connects us and can help us to imagine and build a better future, but he believes there are many, many more. And for Ma, culture includes not just the arts, but everything that helps us to understand our environment, each other, and ourselves, from music and literature to science and food. “I believe that culture – the way we express ourselves and each other – is an essential part of building a strong society,” says Ma.

“The Bach Project” explores and celebrates all the ways that culture makes us stronger as individuals, as communities, as a society, and as a planet. Ma’s performance at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park follows appearances at other major venues including Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and Leipzig’s St. Nicholas Church, among others.

Alongside each concert, Ma and his team partner with artists and culture makers, cultural and community organizations, and leaders from across sectors to design conversations, collaborations, and performances. These public events and creative experiences create a “Day of Action” and are different in every location; they aspire to local relevance and global significance; they demonstrate culture’s power to create positive change; they inspire new relationships, connect partners across locations, and ask us all to keep culture at the center of our efforts to build a shared future.

The “Day of Action” for Chicago with Yo-Yo Ma will take place on Friday, June 21, with full programming details for the day to be announced at a later date.

Admission to the CSOA’s presentation of Yo-Yo Ma’s June 20 performance at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park is free and open to the public. A limited number of reserved seats will be available starting January 21 for supporters of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association. For information, call Patron Services at 800 223 7114 or 312-294 3000 or visit cso.org.

This performance is presented in partnership with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
This concert is generously sponsored by Judson and Joyce Green with generous support provided by Dean and Rosemarie Buntrock, Sylvia Neil and Dan Fischel and Helen and Sam Zell.

CSOA Special Concert
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
at Millennium Park,
201 E. Randolph St. in Chicago Thursday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m.
Yo-Yo Ma Performs the Complete Bach Cello Suites
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
BACH Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
BACH Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008
BACH Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009
BACH Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010
BACH Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011
BACH Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
Tickets: The concert is free and open to the public.
Free seating on the Great Lawn and in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. A limited number of prime reserved seats are available with a donation of support for the CSOA Annual Fund. More information at cso.org/BachProject.