Yo-Yo Ma performs at Yale, awarded Sanford Medal (photos)

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma visited Yale on Tuesday, January 13 to perform a sold-out benefit concert in Woolsey Hall. Ma, who received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University in 1987, joined forces with Yale cello faculty Aldo Parisot and Ole Akahoshi as well as the Yale Philharmonia.

The event opened with Jean-Baptiste Barrière's Sonata in G major for two cellos, for which Ma paired up with Assistant Professor of Cello Ole Akahoshi.

Ma then performed J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 3 in C major for solo cello to a rapt audience.

At the opening of the concert's second half, Dean Robert Blocker awarded the Sanford Medal to Yo-Yo Ma and to Aldo Parisot, the Sanford Professor of Music. The Sanford Medal is the Yale School of Music's highest honor.

Yo-Yo Ma then interviewed Aldo Parisot onstage, a conversation between two masters of the cello who enjoy a longstanding warm friendship.

The event culminated in Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major. Featuring Ma as soloist, Aldo Parisot conducted members of the Yale Philharmonia.

All proceeds from the sold-out concert will benefit the Cello Enrichment Fund at the School of Music.