About this Performance

Yo-Yo Ma “is a musician of immense conscience, a wholeheartedly earnest presence who tends to bring out the best in whatever company he is in” (The New York Times). Sharing the stage with Gustavo Dudamel, Ma brings his sensitive playing to the world-premiere performances of an underwater field recordings-inspired concerto by Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón. The collaboration between Negrón and Ma sparked from an experiential creative workshop she facilitated with Ma and the Billion Oyster Project in New York City.

Mundillo, meaning “little world” in Spanish, references the Puerto Rican artisanal craft of handmade bobbin lace. Their intricate patterns serve as a metaphor for connection, patience, care, and collective labor. Negrón’s concerto draws parallels between the tradition and interdependent structures of mundillo and those of corals and sponges, showing how small, repeated gestures can form beautiful, complex, living structures that require great care to preserve.

Richard Strauss’ tone poems are arguably among some of the most richly orchestrated and strikingly adventurous pieces written for orchestra. Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) is no exception as it closely follows the composer’s own real-life conflicts, resolutions, and romances along the way through its bold battle music, soaring melodies, and passionate spirit.

A note from Gustavo Dudamel

The composer Angélica Negrón offers us a beautiful image in her new work Mundillo (Little World), which we are honored to premiere this weekend with the singular Yo-Yo Ma. Mundillo is a traditional Puerto Rican lace, carefully woven and full of detail, found in everyday life, from pillows and tablecloths to shirt collars and wedding garments. In Angélica’s imagination, these patterns echo both the natural world—like coral reefs—and human structures, including the intricate life of a symphony orchestra. Each thread follows its own path, but together, they create something whole. We see this same idea in a symphony orchestra, where many individuals join to form a single organism, far greater than any one of us alone. It feels especially meaningful that Yo-Yo, an artist known for his humanity and openness, helps bring this vision to life.

We then turn to Strauss’ A Hero’s Life. Strauss wrote this tone poem for a very large orchestra, and in many ways, it’s a celebration of music-making. In Strauss’ world, the composer is our hero, with every musician in the orchestra playing an important role. The concertmaster is the Hero’s Companion, the reeds players are the Adversaries, and the brass fanfares push us forward in the narrative. I look forward to sharing this extraordinary work with our audiences, brought to life by this remarkable orchestra. —Gustavo Dudamel

This performance is generously supported by Ellen and Arnold Zetcher.

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