Watch: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed at the US-Mexico border to send out a message of unity
The musician played a piece by Bach and called on everyone to ‘build bridges, not walls’.
Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma took a stand for global unity by bringing his music to the US-Mexico border in the hope that people would connect with each other despite differences in their cultures.
On Saturday, the musician performed German composer Bach’s “Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello” at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, which connects the twin cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo in Mexico
The performance was a part of Ma’s “Bach Project,” an effort to perform Bach’s cello suites in 36 locations around the world to celebrate shared values of humanity.
“I’ve lived my life at the borders between cultures, between disciplines, between musics, between generations,” Ma said in an address. “In culture, we build bridges, not walls. A country is not a hotel and it’s not full,” he added, in what seemed to be a reference to US President Donald Trump’s remarks that the country could not take in any more immigrants because it was “full”.