He started impacting the lives of many DePauw students when he appeared on the beloved television show "Arthur." Years later, DePauw students will be able to realize his fame and impact on the musical world. Yo-Yo Ma will be speaking Thursday, Sept. 29 about "A Life in Music." He will then play a concert on Friday Sept. 30.
According to Mark McCoy, dean of the School of Music, Yo-Yo Ma is the "greatest musician since 1971" to come to DePauw.
He continued to explain Judson and Joyce Green, through their connection with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, have arranged Mr. Ma's concert. Mr. and Mrs. Green donated $10 million to expand the performing arts building in 2005.
"He has always been that ‘wow' musician, and I think he will be able to bring the DePauw and Greencastle communities together, as well as bringing the two schools together [music and liberal arts]," said senior vocal performance major Gabriel Lopez.
Ticket sales reflected Lopez's feelings about Ma's appearance on campus. According to McCoy, student tickets sold out in three hours, while faculty tickets took only two hours to go. General admission tickets vanished in seven minutes.
Free tickets to Ma's "A Life in the Music" are still being given away at the box office in the Green Center for Performing Arts. They will be handed out every day from noon to 3:30 p.m. until Thursday, Sept. 29.
"‘A Life in the Music' is a free chat about Yo-Yo Ma's life and how he got to where he is today," McCoy said. "During a portion of the time, he will play and talk about how he works on music. At the end, time permitting, he will take any questions."
McCoy also emphasized the talk as being a benefit to more than just School of Music students. Ma will be talking about his college experience and the various projects he is working on.
"I'm excited to see him because he is a great musician, and it's a rare opportunity to see someone with this kind of talent perform live," said freshman Emma Haynes. "I think this concert is equally geared [toward College of Liberal Arts students and School of Music students] since Yo-Yo Ma is famous for being not only a great musician but entertaining as well, so as to please different types of audiences."
McCoy also addressed the events' general appeal.
"This is an incredible opportunity for all people to get insight into his life," he said.