Yo Yo Ma

This year will be remembered musically for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's tour of the Far East. The concerts the BSO and music director David Zinman gave in Korea, Taiwan and Japan over a four-week period got better and better. In Japan particularly, where the BSO gave 14 concerts in 18 days, the orchestra scored an almost unprecedented triumph.It went to Japan as an unknown orchestra, one that Japanese audiences almost certainly regarded as merely a backup group for superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. But by the end of the second of their concerts in Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Japan's premier classical music venue, the BSO and Zinman had themselves achieved stardom.

Ten years after the idea for a new concert venue in suburban Washington was planted, the $100 million Music Center at Strathmore opened Saturday night, packed with a mostly by-invitation, mostly black-tie crowd that strode into the gleaming facility on a red carpet. Patrons schmoozed and noshed before entering the hall to hear congratulatory speeches, interrupted by nearly as many ovations as the State of the Union address, and then some brilliant playing by the center's No. 1 resident, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

TOKYO -- Last night in Suntory Hall, the international arena in which the world's great orchestras perpetually battle, Baltimoreans could have been as proud of their symphony as they would be of the Orioles if they had just clinched the pennant.The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and music director David Zinman gave perhaps the greatest concert in their history together, surpassing even the fondly remembered performance in St. Petersburg that brought the orchestra's 1987 tour of Europe to a triumphant close.

Yo-Yo Ma Simply Baroque II: Music of Bach and Boccherini (Sony Classical SK 60681) Like movie sequels, this follow-up to last year's "Simply Baroque" adheres to the original formula - transcriptions for cello and orchestra of mostly vocal music by Bach, with two cello concertos by Boccherini for good measure. But unlike most movie sequels, this disc doesn't prompt the question "Why bother?" Yo-Yo Ma has not just scratched the surface of historically informed baroque performance practice.

Tod Machover, a 37-year-old musician with electrified, Beethoven-like hair, is one part J. S. Bach and one part Antonio Stradivari. He's both a composer and an instrument maker. And it's both the computer-driven music and the computerized instruments he creates that have put him at the cutting edge of music today.His 20-minute "Towards the Center" for six instruments and live computer electronics will be performed tonight at a Discovery concert in the Peabody Institute's Friedberg Hall by David Zinman and members of the Baltimore Symphony.

Moments after Joe Biden is sworn in as vice president of the United States on the West Front of the Capitol and just before Barack Obama takes his oath as president, four classical musicians will perform a work created by John Williams for the history-rich inauguration. One of those players is Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a newcomer to the Peabody Conservatory faculty. When he got the word last month that he would be participating in what might be considered the mother of all gigs, McGill's initial reaction was: "Wow, this is absolutely unbelievable.

The inauguration of a "second home" and a gala with Yo-Yo Ma; two premieres and a smattering of other contemporary pieces; a touch of opera and the biggest dose of choral music in several years; substantial solo spots for ensemble members and an exceptional lineup of guest pianists -- these are among the highlights of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's 2004-2005 season. "There is a tremendous amount of stuff we haven't played often, or haven't done before," says BSO president John Gidwitz.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Orchestra's 93-year effort to build a new concert hall ended on a high note this weekend, as thousands gathered for the opening of the $265 million Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Sold-out galas Friday and yesterday gave Philadelphians their first chance to experience full-length concerts in the 2,500-seat Verizon Hall, the largest of several performing spaces inside the glass-and-brick center at 260 S. Broad St. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies today will kick off a two-week public celebration offering daily free performances.

A few weeks ago in St. Petersburg, Ralph Kirshbaum lost his cool.An American cello student walked up to him and asked: "Excuse me, sir, who do you think is the greatest cellist you've heard here in the last few days?"There couldn't have been a better time for such a question: Most of the world's great cellists were in St. Petersburg for the International Cello Congress. But Kirshbaum was the wrong guy to ask."What does it mean when we elevate someone to be 'the best'?" he says, shaking his head sadly as he relates the story.

Did you mail a card? Send flowers? At least call? You know why you did (and you'd better have) . . . because she would forgive you even if you forgot.That's the essence of moms. Drives you nuts, doesn't it? Happy Mother's Day.You see, the thing about moms is that they're, well, I don't have to tell you. You've had one. We've all had one. It's our most basic shared experience.Ma-ma is the first word a baby learns. As we know from watching TV, "Hi, Mom!" are the first two words a football player learns.