Yo-Yo Ma joins Aldo Parisot for a bow in Yale's Woolsey Hall on January 13, 2015.
Ma performed Haydn's C Major Cello Concerto with an orchestra of Yale students under the direction of Parisot in a sold-out benefit for the Yale Cello Fund.
Mr. Parisot has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors over the years, including gold medals from Lebanon and Brazil, and honorary citizenships. In 1980 Mr. Parisot received the Eva Janzer “Chevalier du Violoncelle” award given by Indiana University. In 1983, he was awarded the United Nations Peace Medal following his performance at its Staff Day ceremonies, and also received the Artist/Teacher Award presented by the American String Teachers Association. In May of 1997, Mr. Parisot received the Governor’s Arts Award from the State of Connecticut for outstanding achievement as a musician and teacher. Mr. Parisot was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Shenandoah University in 1999, an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Penn State University in 2002, and the Award of Distinction from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England in 2001. In 2006, he was honored by Sejong with a special concert in his honor in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. A Yale faculty member since 1958, Mr. Parisot was named the Samuel Sanford Professor of Music at Yale in 1994—the first recipient of this honor—and received the Gustave Stoeckel Award in 2002. In 2009, Aldo Parisot celebrated his 50 years on the Yale faculty and was the subject of a feature article in the New York Times, written by Ralph Kirshbaum, entitled “Cello Teacher with a License to Dazzle.” As part of the celebration, the School of Music presented a gala concert by the Yale Cellos in Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall. The sold-out event was attended by dozens of Parisot’s former students.