THE CONCERT

There was only one chair on the stage of the concert hall in
northern England. There was no piano, no music stand and no
conductor. Just that solitary chair.
The atmosphere in the hall was tense. People were
nervous and excited. Everyone in the audience of 600 people
knew that they were going to hear a very special kind of
music.
Finally it was time to start. Yo-Yo Ma, one of the worlds most famous cellists, came on the
stage, bowed to the audience and sat down quietly on the chair. He made himself comfortable on the
chair, thought for some minutes until there was complete silence, and then he started to play music that
was at first empty and dangerous, but that soon became loud and painful, like the worst thing youve
ever heard. It was almost unbearable but then, finally, it faded away to nothing. Yo-Yo Ma did not move.
He stayed with his head bowed over his instrument.
Everyone in the hall held their breath. For what seemed like hours, nobody moved. It was as if
they had all experienced something terrible and dark.
But then Yo-Yo Ma stood up. He put down his cello. He stretched out his hand to someone in
the audience, asking them to come and join him. An electric shock ran through the audience when they
realized what was going to happen.
A man got up from his seat and walked towards the stage. He was dressed in dirty motorcycle
leathers, but Ma did not seem to mind. He rushed down from the stage, and when the two men met
they flung their arms around each other in an emotional embrace.
The audience went crazy; suddenly everyone was cheering and shouting, like people do when
theyve just heard great music. But this was more than music.