The Moss Arts Center hosted a special master class with legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma and students from Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts on November 6 in the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located in the Moss Arts Center’s Street and Davis Performance Hall.

Ma worked with Charlotte Cannon, a Virginia Tech sophomore from Blacksburg, Virginia, double majoring in visual communication design and music performance. Cannon, who is also a student in the Virginia Tech Honors College, performed the solo cello piece, Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, for Ma.

For the second part of the master class, a quintet composed of Virginia Tech students performed Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor, op. 57. Those students were Nathan Folta, violin; John Katahira, violin; Katie Heltzel, viola; Elena Porter, cello; and Mimi Zhang, piano.

The master class followed a sold-out performance by Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott at the Moss Arts Center on November 5. The center regularly hosts engagement activities with its visiting artists, which include master classes, workshops, and artist talks, and provides exclusive opportunities for Virginia Tech students to work directly with these artists.

Photos by Logan Wallace