Sarabande Africaine

Angélique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma first met under the Arc de Triomphe, gathered with dozens of world leaders to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. Ma played a Bach sarabande; Kidjo sang “Blewu,” an Ewe dirge, in memory of the many and often-forgotten African soldiers killed in the war. It was a fitting beginning to a conversation between Kidjo and Ma about the ways in which African culture is so frequently erased—in historical memor...