A call for creative know-how
Yo-Yo Ma was deep into a moving performance of a Johann Sebastian Bach saraband last Thursday when someone in the crowd started singing along. Fortunately, it wasn’t an overzealous fan but Chinese musician Wu Tong, a member of Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Together with the famous cellist, he seamlessly transitioned from the classic work to his own composition “Swallow Song,” a traditional Chinese/Kazakh piece arranged for voice, cello, and sheng, a Chinese mouth organ. The eclectic performance at the Harvard Innovation Lab (i-lab) was a fitting experiment for the afternoon event: the kickoff of a Harvard initiative aimed at supporting the arts by connecting the worlds of art and business, Harvard’s student body, and the wider Harvard community. In November, 13 deans from across the University announced the Deans’ Cultural Entrepreneurship Challenge, a contest hosted by the i-lab that will award $75,000 in grants to students who develop projects that help promote and...