On September 3, 2021, we were honored to welcome Yo-Yo-Ma for a historic visit to the Antonín Dvořák Birth House in Nelahozeves. The world-renowned cellist not only learned about our plans to renovate the house, but also explored the surrounding sights and sounds that inspired Dvořák—the local church where he played the violin and organ, the riverbank, the trains passing by...

While there, Yo-Yo Ma also performed the first movement of Dvořák’s American String Quartet, op. 96, together with talented young musicians from the Czech Chamber Music Academy (AKH). The students enjoyed the memorable opportunity to engage with Yo-Yo Ma, who shared his unique insights.

The cellist’s visit closed with a special performance of “Goin’ Home,” a song written in 1922 by William Arms Fisher, a student of Dvořák. William Lobkowicz sang the song with Yo-Yo Ma accompanying on the cello beneath the Dvořák statue in the village square.

It was an inspirational moment that will be remembered in the continuum of 400 years of musical history in the Lobkowicz Collections and family.