After receiving the second dose, Yo-Yo Ma transforms the waiting period into performance at the Pittsfield Vax Clinic | Local news

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PITTSFIELD – After Yo-Yo Ma received his second shot of a COVID-19 vaccine at Berkshire Community College on Saturday, he transformed his 15-minute observation period into a concert for the newly inoculated.

The world-famous cellist and part-time resident of Berkshires completed his vaccination course at the cottage clinic and “wanted to get something back,” Berkshire COVID’s The Eagle told Richard E -19 Collaborative Vaccines.

Yo-Yo Ma sat along the wall of the observation area, masked and socially away from the others. He spent 15 minutes observing playing the cello to an applauding audience, in what Hall called a “very special” concert that culminated the day’s vaccination event.

“What a way to end the clinic,” Hall wrote in an email.

Berkshire Community College shared news of Yo-Yo Ma’s informal performance on social media and state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli congratulated the musician for “bringing hope and optimism through his beautiful music”. The university shared excerpts from the concert on Facebook.

In a poetic circumstance, Yo-Yo Ma’s second coronavirus shot and subsequent concert occur exactly one year after he released his first recording of himself playing his instrument with the hashtag #SongsOfComfort.

Amid the fear and uncertainty that marked the early days of the pandemic, the world-renowned musician began sharing the recordings in the hope that they would bring comfort and connection to a frightened nation.

“In these days of anxiety,” he wrote on Twitter on March 13, 2020, “I wanted to find a way to continue sharing some of the music that comforts me. The first of my #SongsOfComfort: Dvořák – “Going home”

It’s not the first time Yo-Yo Ma has gifted the unsuspecting with music throughout the pandemic. In September, he and Emanuel Ax played a series of surprise pop-up concerts for essential workers, shortly after treating essential workers and first-timers to a live virtual concert.

Francesca Paris contributed to this report

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