Video: Yo-Yo Ma Stuns Shoppers with Pop-Up Concert in Chicago Mall

Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Civic Orchestra give a pop-up concert in Chicago

Holiday shopping can be exhausting. And stressful. But a new video making the rounds on YouTube shows a smiling, if somewhat surprised crowd of shoppers after Yo-Yo Ma begins to perform at a downtown Chicago mall on Tuesday night.

The setting is the Shops at North Bridge, a glossy mall on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. At about 7:50 into this video of a pop-up concert by members of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the cellist turns up and begins playing.

"We just came to Chicago for like 24 hours and I’m seeing Yo-Yo Ma. It’s so awesome,” shopper Laura Marier told CBS Chicago.

The event was a promotion for Citizen Musician, a community outreach and education project that Ma leads with the Chicago Symphony, where he is a creative consultant. The Chicago Civic Orchestra, featured here, is the CSO's training ensemble. (Hat tip: Slipped Disc.)