How far we have come...
How far we've come: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiwk...
— Andy Pasternak (@tubadrew.bsky.social) 2025-12-09T05:08:55.827Z
Two months after President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Congress passed and President Johnson signed into law legislation renaming the National Cultural Center as a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy.
Leonard Bernstein's introduction of Yo-Yo Ma:
“An aspect of that double stream of art I mentioned earlier flowing into and out of America, has long been the attraction of our country to foreign artists, and scientists and thinkers, who have come not only to visit us, but often to join us as Americans, to become citizens of what to some has historically been the land of opportunity and to others the land of freedom. And in this great tradition, there has come to us, this year, a young man aged 7, bearing the name Yo-Yo Ma. Now Yo-Yo came to our attention through the great master Pablo Casals who had recently heard the boy play the cello. Yo-Yo is, as you may have guessed, Chinese, and has lived up to now in France—a highly international type. But he and his family are now here. His father is teaching school in New York, and his 11-year-old sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, is pursuing her musical studies, and they are all hoping to become American citizens. We shall now have the pleasure of hearing Yo-Yo Ma, accompanied by his sister Yeou-Cheng Ma, play the first movement of the Concertino No. 3 in A Major, by Jean-Baptiste Breval, who played, taught, and composed for the cello 150 years ago in France. Now, here’s a cultural image for you to ponder as you listen. A 7-year-old Chinese cellist, playing old French music, for his new American compatriots. Welcome Yo-Yo Ma and Yeou-Cheng M
...and how far we have fallen.
= new reply since forum marked as read
He will be in Boston in March @ Symphony Hall on March 15th.
I was about 11 and growing up in Saint Louis at the time. We all loved President Kennedy of course, and Leonard Bernstein was as close to godliness as you could get in those days. We saw this on TV of course, at my grandparents' house because they had a COLOR TV! I never played a string instrument but my sister and I had many years of piano lessons.
Thank you for posting this video!
It makes me smile and at the same time tear up.
Thank you, sheshe. We all need a lovely boost from time to time. This musical video certainly fills the bill.
with a phenomenal choir and out of this world acoustics while Barak and Michelle rocked out and Robert Plant sat in tears. Also sitting in the audience was Yo-Yo Ma. He was like the face of pure joy. Of course he was well into adulthood then, but I enjoyed his reaction so much. At the time I didn't realize that he had performed there at age seven. How far we have fallen is right.
