‘Everyone has to do something’: Yo-Yo Ma performs outside Russian embassy

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma was spotted outside the Russian Embassy in Washington DC on Monday, in a personal stand against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Leaning against a wall, the cellist performed solo Bach next to a makeshift sign reading ‘Zelensky Way’. Ryan Stitt was passing by and managed to take a video of Ma performing.

Ma was largely unnoticed, until Stitt approached the cellist, asking him, ‘Are you Yo-Yo Ma?’ In an interview with local TV station WUSA, he said the two of them had a conversation, with Ma saying ’Everyone has to do something.’

Ma was in Washington DC to perform for Washington Performing Arts on Monday night with pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Leonidas Kavakos. At the start of their performance, the trio played Ukraine’s national anthem.