Internationally-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer and Director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program Damian Woetzel will visit Detroit Public Schools’ Spain Elementary-Middle School to highlight the importance of arts education on Thursday, April 10.
In conjunction with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming performance, Ma and Woetzel will engage Spain Elementary-Middle School language arts and science students with in-classroom exercises related to dance, music and poetry. A school-wide assembly will follow the classroom workshops where students will showcase what they have learned from the morning of arts enrichment.
The sponsoring enrichment program created by Ma and Woetzel, Arts Strike, is intended to bring arts dialogue between artists and communities, in addition to community-building initiatives. Previous Arts Strike locations have included Washington, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
“I am so pleased Yo-Yo, Damian, and the The Aspen Institute Arts Program selected Detroit for their next Arts Strike,” said Anne Parsons, DSO President and CEO. “We are grateful for their leadership and bringing a crucial national conversation to Detroit.”
Arts Strike is made possible by the oversight of the Aspen Arts Strategy Group, convened by the Aspen Institute Arts Program in partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Yo-Yo Ma is a 16-time Grammy Award winner, and is most known for his work on such film soundtracks as: Ennio Morricone’s compositions of the Dollars Trilogy (including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, The Untouchables, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In 2009, Ma was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
Ma is scheduled to perform with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, April 9, at 7:30 pm. This performance is sold-out.