The NY Times posted a story about cellist Yo-Yo Ma taking the inaugural stage today, but instead of playing his $2 million 1733 Montagnana, he’ll be playing the $7,139 Luis and Clark carbon fiber cello.

Due to the carbon fiber build, the cello is unaffected by the temperature and humidity, something that can be detrimental to the antique instruments that professionals normally use.  Today’s weather forecast calls for a high of 31 F, a chance of snow flurries and 20mph winds.

At the “We Are One” concert at the lincoln Memorial on Sunday, the 44 musicians in the Joint Service Orchestra string section all played a variety of carbon fiber cellos, violins, violas and basses.  This was the first time that a major orchestra had exclusively used carbon fiber string instruments.

Stay tuned to our site for more posts on carbon fiber string instruments, we have a couple lined up in our queue.