The VIVA HEALTH Gala is a fundraiser benefiting UAB’s Alys Stephens Center, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, ArtPlay and Arts in Medicine.Grammy Award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott will share their most recent musical collaboration live in concert for the 2022 VIVA HEALTH Gala on Saturday, April 23. More tickets have just been released.
Ma and Stott’s new work, “Songs of Comfort and Hope,” was created and recorded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The album’s 21 new recordings span modern arrangements of traditional folk tunes, canonical pop songs, jazz standards and mainstays from the Western classical repertoire.
The 6 p.m. show will be in the Alys Stephens Center’s Jemison Concert Hall. Tickets are $150. For tickets, call the Alys Stephens Center Box Office at 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org.
The VIVA HEALTH Gala is more than a performance. The funds raised are instrumental to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s arts organizations and directly support the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, ArtPlay Community Art Education and UAB Arts in Medicine.
These four organizations, each with a distinct mission, serve the Birmingham community and beyond, providing engaging and meaningful art experiences and connections. This year’s VIVA HEALTH Gala event will culminate the celebration of the Alys Stephens Center’s 25th anniversary and ArtPlay Community Arts Education’s 10th anniversary. The event is sponsored by VIVA HEALTH, UAB, Ebsco Industries, Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation, and Vulcan Value Partners.
Ma’s multifaceted career is a testament to his enduring belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, collaborating with communities and institutions to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Ma strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity.
His discography of more than 100 albums, including 18 Grammy Award winners, reflects his wide-ranging interests. In addition to his many iconic renditions of the Western classical canon, he has made several recordings that defy categorization, among them “Appalachia Waltz” and “Appalachian Journey” with Mark O’Connor and Edgar Meyer, and two Grammy-winning tributes to the music of Brazil, “Obrigado Brazil” and “Obrigado Brazil — Live in Concert.” His other recent recordings include “Sing Me Home” with the Silkroad Ensemble, which won the 2016 Grammy for Best World Music Album; “Brahms: The Piano Trios,” with Emanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos; “Six Evolutions — Bach: Cello Suites”; and “Not Our First Goat Rodeo,” with Meyer, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile.
Safety is UAB’s priority. The pandemic is a fluid situation that UAB is monitoring, in consultation with infectious disease and public health experts; events will be subject to change based on the latest COVID-19 safety guidelines.