Not Our First Goat Rodeo: YO-YO MA, STUART DUNCAN, EDGAR MEYER, CHRIS THILE with guest AOIFE O’DONOVAN

Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile’s long-awaited Goat Rodeo reunion

An astounding group of virtuosos – Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Edgar Meyer on bass, and Chris Thile on mandolin — reunite live for the first time in nearly a decade. Joined by featured vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, the lively talents of these exceptional artists come together on stage to create a singular sound that’s part composed, part improvised, and uniquely American — music so complex to pull off that the group likens it to a goat rodeo, airplane pilots’ nickname for a situation in which many different things need to go right to avoid disaster. In the words of the Los Angeles Times, this concert presents “unlikely musicians on unlikely instruments in concerts … that [are] part blues, part bluegrass and a smidgen of Bach.”

2011’s Grammy-winning Goat Rodeo Sessions was the first step in this pathbreaking collaboration, producing music that NPR’s World Cafe called “organic yet composed in a way that only four deeply talented, in-tune musicians could make it,” hinting “at Appalachia, Chinese, classical, Celtic, and jazz influences.” Now, the group reunites this summer to perform a collection of all-new music, accompanied by the new album that was released in 2020 by Sony Masterworks. These five musicians’ diverse traditions and experiences intersect to create a compelling sound that is at once global and American, a shared voice that speaks powerfully to the American experience.

NPR Music Interviews: Yo-Yo Ma: Goats, Rodeos And The Power of Music

“Music, like all of culture, helps us to understand our environment, each other, and ourselves. Culture helps us to imagine a better future. Culture helps turn “them” into “us.” And these things have never been more important.”   YO-YO MA

This show is generously underwritten by Presenting Underwriters: Kathy Cole, Gina Browning & Joe Illick, Carolyn & Steve Pope. Supporting Underwriters: Jeff & Susan Campbell, Alexia & Jerry Jurschak, Barbara & Tim Kelley, Marilyn Augur, LaDonna & Gary Wicklund