16 Oct 2020
London, 15 October 2020: Viking® (www.vikingcruises.co.uk) announces that world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will appear as a special guest on its new enrichment channel, Viking.TV (www.viking.tv). On 22 October, as part of the Guest Speaker Thursdays series, eminent British broadcast journalist Anne Diamond will interview Yo-Yo Ma and discuss his accomplished career and philanthropic efforts, as well as his latest projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. The exclusive interview will be streamed live on Viking.TV at 7pm BST, and viewers will have the opportunity to put forward their own questions before the livestream by emailing vikingfamily@viking.com, or during the Q&A session via an online form. As with all Viking.TV livestreams, the interview with Yo-Yo Ma will be available to watch on-demand the following day.
“We are honoured to welcome Yo-Yo Ma as our guest for this special interview on Viking.TV,” said Karine Hagen, Executive Vice President of Viking. “Yo-Yo Ma's musical talents have enriched the world for decades, and his work to foster understanding and build human connections through culture is a true inspiration. At Viking, we share the goal of bringing people together through cultural enrichment and, until we can travel together again, we are committed to continuing our mission virtually through our Viking.TV programming.”
For nearly six decades, Yo-Yo Ma's multi-faceted career has included original and familiar works from the cello repertoire, as well as programme development in collaboration with communities and institutions around the world to reinforce our humanity through culture. A celebrated musician, his discography includes more than 100 albums and 18 Grammy Awards reflecting a range of interests. Honoured as a musician and humanitarian, Yo-Yo Ma has received the National Medal of Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors, among others. Since 2006, he has also served in the distinguished role as United Nations Messenger of Peace, which includes carefully selected individuals in art, literature, science, entertainment, sports or other fields of public life.
Most recently, Yo-Yo Ma was recognised as one of TIME Magazine's “100 Most Influential People” in 2020 in acknowledgment for his musical talents and his latest project which took shape during the past few months. At the beginning of the pandemic, Yo-Yo Ma began posting video performances to social media to offer comfort to a global audience through music. With the hashtag #SongsofComfort, Yo-Yo Ma encouraged other musicians to join him and videos were submitted by people from all walks of life, including well-known musicians such as James Taylor, Carole King and the Indigo Girls. During his interview with Anne Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma will share an update on his Bach Project, in which he set out to perform Bach's six suites for solo cello in 36 locations around the world. The project aims to show how culture helps us to express ourselves, and how it can bring people together.
Yo-Yo Ma will also discuss Silkroad, an initiative he launched in 1998 to promote cultural collaboration by bringing musicians together to build connections through music and continues today with training, social initiatives, and the Grammy-award winning Silkroad Ensemble.
Viking.TV
Launched in mid-March during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Viking.TV was conceived as a way to build community, stay connected and share positive experiences while people are staying home, rather than travelling. For more than six months, the award-winning enrichment channel has broadcast nearly 200 sessions featuring original cultural content and virtual Privileged Access to interesting people and places around the world. The digital platform, where all content is free to watch, has resonated well with people during this unusual year; recently Viking.TV was honoured with the “Silver-i Breakthrough Award for Innovation” at the 2020 Silver Travel Awards.
Livestream sessions on Viking.TV start every day at 7pm BST, and all content is archived and available on-demand for anyone who cannot view at the original time of the broadcast. Also on Viking.TV, there are more than 200 original short-form Destination Insight documentaries and 60 additional pieces of content from Viking Cultural Partners, with programming from TED, Libera and more.
To access Viking.TV go to https://viking.tv/ or to make a booking or for more information about Viking call 0800 298 97 00 or go to www.vikingcruises.co.uk
ENDS
Media contacts:
Viking UK Press Office: ukpressoffice@vikingcruises.com
Bryony Gammon: bryony.gammon@vikingcruises.com
Carmen Walker: carmen.walker@vikingcruises.com
Telephone: +44 208 780 7945
About Viking
Viking offers culturally enriching, destination-focused river and ocean cruises for travellers curious about the world, its rich culture and varied history.
Viking takes its guests on curated, elegant voyages to some of the most iconic rivers in Europe, Africa and the Far East, allowing a unique window on inspiring destinations and rewarding experiences. Viking revolutionised river cruising with the introduction of its state of the art Viking Longships which, since their introduction in 2012, now make up 80 percent of its river fleet.
Viking is quickly expanding its fleet and portfolio of river cruise itineraries to meet demand, and launched seven new river vessels in 2019, including six Viking Longships and an additional ship specifically designed for Portugal's Douro River. Viking is soon launching seven new river ships including Viking Osiris on the Nile, two new Longships for the Rhine, Main and Danube and four new ships designed for the Seine.
In 2015 Viking debuted its maiden season of ocean cruising and in February 2019 Viking took delivery of its sixth ocean ship, Viking Jupiter, making it the largest small ship ocean cruise line. Viking Venus is launching in early 2021. The sophisticated state-of-the-art Viking ocean ships can accommodate 930 guests on itineraries all across the world.
Viking recently announced it will expand its destination-focused travel experiences with the launch of new expedition voyages. Viking Expeditions will begin sailing in January 2022 with its first vessel, Viking Octantis, embarking on voyages to Antarctica and North America's Great Lakes. A second expedition vessel, Viking Polaris, will debut in August 2022, sailing to Antarctica and the Arctic. Viking has also just announced that its custom-built vessel, Viking Mississippi, will debut in August 2022 and will sail voyages on the Lower and Upper Mississippi, between New Orleans and St. Paul.
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