Kravis Center adds Yo-Yo Ma, Al Stewart to season lineup

The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has added renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and singer-songwriter Al Stewart to its lineup for the season.

"An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, in conversation with Jeffrey Brown" and "Al Stewart (with his band) The Empty Pockets" are being presented as part of of the "See it Live" series.

Ma will present an evening of conversation and music moderated by Brown, a PBS NewsHour correspondent, at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 8. Through personal anecdotes and musical interludes, Ma "explores how culture can help us all seek truth, build trust and act in service of one another," the Kravis said in a release.

Ma is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, the first artist ever appointed to the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees, a member of the board of Nia Tero, the U.S.-based nonprofit working in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and movements worldwide, and the founder of the global music collective Silkroad.

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He recently began “Our Common Nature,” a cultural journey to celebrate the ways that nature can reunite people in pursuit of a shared future. Our Common Nature follows the Bach Project, a 36-community, six-continent tour of J. S. Bach’s cello suites paired with local cultural programming. Both endeavors reflect Ma's "lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps us to imagine and build a stronger society," according to his bio.

His discography of more than 120 albums (including 19 Grammy Award winners) ranges from iconic renditions of the Western classical canon to recordings that defy categorization, such as “Hush” with Bobby McFerrin and the “Goat Rodeo Sessions” with Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile.

Ma plays three instruments: a 2003 cello made by Moes & Moes, a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice, and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

Stewart's stop at the Kravis at 7:30 p.m. on April 2 will be one of several shows throughout the United States. He will be playing his old favorites such as “Year Of The Cat,” “Time Passages,” “On the Border” and “Modern Times,” along with selections from his catalogue.

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The Scottish-born singer-songwriter has released nearly 20 records featuring backing musicians (Jimmy Page, Phil Collins, Richard Thompson, Peter White, etc.). His biggest platinum successes, “Year Of The Cat” and “Time Passages,” were released in 1976 and 1978, respectively. He’s had several top 20 singles, including “On the Border” and “Song On The Radio”.

Stewart describes himself as "a folk singer that is interested in history and wine that got lucky with some hit records. It's as simple as that really. I was always a huge music fan and originally, I had wanted to be Brian Jones and then Bob Dylan, but those two jobs were already taken. And in many ways, I'm still pretty much the same troubadour that I was back in 1965. I still get a kick out of hearing the Zombies, Hendrix or They Might be Giants on the radio.”

Tickets to Al Stewart and The Empty Pockets go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 7 at 10 a.m.; tickets start at $59.50.

Tickets to An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, in conversation with Jeffrey Brown go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 18; tickets start at $45.

To purchase by phone or in person, call 561-832-7469 or visit the box office Monday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Orders for groups of 10 or more may be placed by calling 561-651-4438.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Kravis Center adds Yo-Yo Ma, Al Stewart to season lineup