I saw this today and thought it's kind of neat. I am no composer, but I may dabble around with this and see if I come up with anything decent. Probably not, but all you composers on our forum here should try. Maybe we'll hear you playing with Yo-Yo Ma one day!

http://www.indabamusic.com/contests/show/yo-yomacontest


It's also fun to just listen to the other submissions so far.

Thanks for the tip Monica. I may give this a shot too. I immediately thought of weaving in some familiar melodies: Mompou's Danza No.5 fits rather well (coincidently with our other discussion.) So does part of Bach's (Anna Magdalena) Minuet No.1 and appropriate for a big finish: Beethoven's 9th Ode to Joy. This could be fun. I'll experiment with instrumentation, but so far I'm thinking celesta, cimbalom, piano and of course Ma's Cello. Of course, it always takes me so long to do anything, I hope I can get something done in time.

Oh, Albert - you're perfect for this. Most of the ones I've heard there so far are not that great. I hope you will really do this because I'm sure yours would be better.

Thanks, Monica. I too listened to several -and that was further motivation. Although some were pretty "hip" so I can't judge them. I just don't like hip-hop, etc. Ma likes all kinds of music and I've lost contests before because I'm about a century behind the current taste.

I hope you will also participate. The piano and cello go so richly together. And your FLUTE would particularly compliment both, especially in a christmas piece, maybe with some improvised arpeggios, obbligato and/or counterpoint. I'd love to hear what you come up with.