Live from Boston

The first of four special programmes across the US, as 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Live from Boston's WGBH studios, Georgia Mann presents a musical postcard of the East Coast city, including a conversation with one of the most celebrated cellists of all time, Yo-Yo Ma, a long-time resident of the Greater Boston area and former student at Harvard.

In a programme full of great music by US composers and musicians, there's live performance in the studio from much-loved Boston-based virtuoso pianist, Marc-André Hamelin, joined by WGBH host and pianist Cathy Fuller, and from Christina Day Martinson, the Grammy-nominated violinist and concertmaster of Boston Baroque.

Georgia delves into Boston's rich cultural heritage, from the wonderful organ of Trinity Church - named one of the ten most beautiful buildings in the whole of the US - to its fabulous concert halls. She takes a walk round Seiji Ozawa Square to visit the world-famous Boston Symphony Orchestra, ahead of their concert performance of Barber's Pulitzer-prize winning opera Vanessa, meeting one of its cast of singers, the Boston-born Samantha Hankey. And she meets the President and CEO of the orchestra along the road at the New England Conservatory, Chad Smith, along with the conservatory's first female President, Andrea Kalyn. The first conservatory building in the US to be designated a National Historic Landmark, in its Jordan Hall, Georgia also eavesdrops on rehearsals for the celebrated period-instrument ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society.

Plus a trip to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's great pioneering organisations for technology, science, and music. Composer and inventor Tod Machover guides Georgia through the very latest and potential future developments in music-tech research.