Monday, March 29, 2027, 7:30 PM

Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre

Adults over 18:
Category A $175 | Category B $125 | Category C $95
Youth 18 and under:
Category A $155 | Category B $105 | Category C $75
A limited number of Virginia Tech student tickets will be available via lottery in February 2027 at $10 each.

Subscription sales begin Thursday, June 18, at 10 AM

Subscription discounts do not apply.
Limited VIP stage box experiences available. Call the box office at 540-231-5300 for information.

"A sense of quiet magnificence radiates from two master musicians."

— The Strad

Two legendary artists. One extraordinary musical kinship. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax return to the Center for the Arts, this time sharing the Fife stage in one of classical music’s most celebrated collaborations.

Friends and musical partners for more than 40 years — most recently collaborating for their Beethoven for Three series with Leonidas Kavakos — Ax and Ma bring their extraordinary musical connection to the recital stage. The duo enjoys a rare artistic rapport, the kind that grows only through decades of listening, collaboration, and trust.

When Ma’s searching cello meets Ax’s luminous piano, the result is music-making of extraordinary depth. Don’t miss an experience of a lifetime, defined by masterful artistry, enduring camaraderie, and the joy of discovery in every phrase.

About Emanuel Ax

Born to Polish parents in what is today Lviv, Ukraine, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. Ax made his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series and in 1974 won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists, followed by the Avery Fisher Prize, and was named the Musical America Artist of the Year for 2026. 

His 2025-2026 season highlights included performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and a tour to Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong. Following the world premiere at Tanglewood in summer 2025, the concerto written for him by John Williams had its Boston Symphony subscription debut in January, followed by the New York premiere with New York Philharmonic. He returned to orchestras in Dallas, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Madison, Naples, and New Jersey. In recital he was heard in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Santa Barbara, Des Moines, Cedar Falls, Schenectady, and Princeton. A European tour included concerts in Munich, Prague, Berlin, Rome, and Torino. 

Ax has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987. He launched a multiyear project with violinist Leonidas Kavakos and cellist Yo-Yo Ma to record all the Beethoven Trios and Symphonies, of which the first four discs have been released. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates of music from Skidmore College, New England Conservatory of Music, Yale University, and Columbia University.

About Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma’s multifaceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Ma strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity. Most recently, Ma began Our Common Nature, a cultural journey to celebrate the ways that nature can reunite us 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. 

Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, where he began studying the cello with his father at age four. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies before pursuing a liberal arts education. He has recorded more than 120 albums, is the winner of 20 Grammy Awards, and has performed for nine American presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden’s inauguration. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize. He has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006, and was recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. 

Ma first performed at the center in 2017, while Ax first performed in 2016.

Photo by Nigel Parry