Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma plays Long Center's Dell Hall on Wednesday, November 18, at 7:30 PM. It's a one-night-only appearance, and the evening is billed as a rare Austin visit for the cellist. He'll be joined by the Austin Symphony Orchestra, with Peter Bay conducting.

The program opens with Alan Hovhaness's And God Created Great Whales, Op. 229, No. 1, followed by excerpts from Georges Bizet's L'Arlésienne Suites No. 1 and No. 2. The main event is Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, B. 191, one of the most celebrated concertos in the cello repertoire.

The concert is part of the Austin Symphony Orchestra's 2026-2027 season, which is a bit of a milestone year: it's the final season for musical director and principal conductor Peter Bay, who steps down after 30 years at the helm, though he'll stay with the orchestra in some capacity. The full season runs 13 programs, with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Jurassic Park in Concert among them, alongside a Butler Pops Series dedicated to cinematic scores like Batman, Elf, Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Concert.

Tickets for the Yo-Yo Ma evening were first offered to renewing and new subscribers before being released to the general public, and the show is now sold out. It runs at 7:30 PM at Dell Hall.