Yo Yo Ma

When it comes to "crossover" music -- a loosely defined genre that fuses, in one way or another, classical and non-classical elements -- few artists have been more successful than Mark O'Connor. A brilliant fiddler and a prolific composer, O'Connor has collaborated with some of the brightest stars in the classical field, among them cellist Yo-Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer (those two joined him for the 1996 hit recording of "Appalachia Waltz"). In 1997, O'Connor wrote a Double Concerto for Two Violins expressly for Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who gave the world premiere with the composer and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last month at the Ravinia Festival.

Towson University yesterday revealed details of the third International Cello Congress, which will take place in the Baltimore area next year.The congress is the largest event of its kind, typically attracting about 15,000 musicians, music lovers and tourists from all over the world, including most of the most celebrated cellists alive.The third congress will take place May 28-June 14, 2000, on the campus of sponsor Towson University and in Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Among the cellist-participants will be Yo-Yo Ma, who spoke at yesterday's luncheon announcing the details at Washington's National Press Club; Janos Starker; and Bernard Greenhouse.

The student: Elizabeth Shin, 16 School: River Hill High Special achievement: She was selected to play cello with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (BCO) in this year's "Side-by-Side" concert. To prepare for the February concert, she and other students chosen from the Maryland Senior All-State Orchestra rehearsed and played with professional musicians. What was it like playing with the BCO? "The conductor, Anne Harrigan, and my stand partner, Bo Li, they were really nice and they helped me to grow into my music a lot. They gave me a different point of view on how I played music - how I phrase my part.

First lady Michelle Obama will visit Maryland next month for a pair of fundraisers -- including one in Baltimore -- during a campaign swing that will largely mirror a trip the president made through the state in June, Democratic officials said Wednesday. Obama, who like other first ladies before her enjoys higher approval ratings than the president, will hold a large fundraiser at Morgan State University on Sept. 21. Tickets for that event will begin at around $250. A more exclusive and pricey event will take place on the same day at the Phoenix home of Robert Meyerhoff, a prominent horse breeder and owner and major Democratic donor.

You won't read about it in Rolling Stone or Spin, but there's a new musical genre taking shape in the United States today. It draws from sources more far-flung than the rap/rock fusion of Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, and it boasts a sound more radical and revolutionary than breathless breakbeats of drum 'n' bass. This style is so new, in fact, it doesn't even have a name. But it does have its champions, and chief among them are Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, the trio responsible for "Appalachian Journey" (Sony Classical 66782, arriving in stores today)

Questions posed to presidential hopefuls reflect their times. Remember the famous one for Bill Clinton during the Rock the Vote forum - boxers or briefs? In the latest example, Rolling Stone asked Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to disclose the contents of his iPod. He described his musical tastes as "old school." "If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder," he told the magazine. Also on the senator's iPod: Jay-Z, Howlin Wolf, Yo-Yo Ma and Sheryl Crow.

In addition to the traditional marches and flourishes from a military band, the inaugural ceremony included two remarkable musical interludes. The first was provided by Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, whose dynamic, gospel-inflected delivery of "My County, 'tis of Thee" energized the crowd. It also brought to mind legendary contralto Marian Anderson's 1939 performance of that same patriotic hymn under very different circumstances at the Lincoln Memorial on the opposite end of the National Mall, after she was barred from the then-segregated Constitution Hall.

Alban Gerhardt of Germany beat out 41 young cellists from all over the world to win the first University of Maryland International Leonard Rose Cello Competition Saturday night with a performance of the Dvorak Cello Concerto at the Kennedy Center. Gerhardt, 24, wins a cash prize of $20,000 and several engagements, including a New York recital Nov. 13 in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.The cello competition joins the William Kapell Piano Competition and the Marian Anderson Vocal Competition as the three prestigious music contests, which are given in conjunction with workshops and recitals given by well-known performers and teachers, sponsored by the University of Maryland at College Park.

Candlelight Concerts will present cellist Clancy Newman, winner of the 2001 Walter W. Naumburg Competition, in a performance of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Piazzolla at 8 p.m. Saturday at Howard Community College's Smith Theatre. The New York-based Naumburg Foundation supports young artists with grants, and by promoting and subsidizing their concerts. Foundation proteges who have performed in the Candlelight Concert series in Columbia include violinists Robert Mann and Elmar Oliveira; soprano Dawn Upshaw; pianist William Kapell (for whom the University of Maryland's Kapell Piano Competition is named)

The most popular member of the Obama campaign is coming to Maryland Friday for a pair of fundraisers. Michelle Obama is scheduled to attend an afternoon reception at Morgan State University in Baltimore and an evening reception at a home in Baltimore County. As Erin McPike wrote this week on RealClearPolitics , the Obama campaign has been leaning on the first lady in the final weeks of the campaign to testify to the president's character and vision. Michelle Obama typically travels three days a week, and makes a couple of appearances per travel day. She visited Virginia last week and Florida and North Carolina this week.