If the busking in the metro sounded even better than usual on Saturday, it wasn't a surprise.

World-renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma put on a special, free performance at the Place-des-Arts metro.

The event included an interactive art display, combining music, visual art and technology. 

The cellist, 63, performed songs both alone and accompanied by local poets, closing his set with Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' - a song he feels is representative of Montreal. 

Fluent in French, Yo Yo Ma invited spectators to contemplate music and how it interacts with ambient, urban sounds like the subway in the distance.

"The music of the subway, all that's in the city, the church bells we listened to - all this unites us," he told the crowd.

The performance was organized in collaboration with the STM, which livestreamed the performance on their Facebook page. 

On Friday, Yo Yo Ma performed at the Maison Symphonique as part of the Montreal Bach Festival.