Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma[a] (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist.[1] Born to and partially raised by Chinese[2] parents in Paris and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University, attended Columbia University, and has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He has recorded more than 92 albums and received 19 Grammy Awards.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ma.
Yo-Yo Ma馬友友
7 October 1955
Paris, France
Musician
1961–present
馬友友
马友友
Mǎ Yǒuyǒu
Mǎ Yǒuyǒu
ㄇㄚˇㄧㄡˇㄧㄡˇ
Ma Yuyu
Mǎ Yǒuyǒu
máah yáuh yáuh
maa5 jau5 jau5
In addition to recordings of the standard classical repertoire, Ma has recorded a wide variety of folk music, such as American bluegrass music, traditional Chinese melodies, the tangos of Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla, and Brazilian music. He has also collaborated with artists from a diverse range of genres, including Bobby McFerrin, Carlos Santana, Chris Botti, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Miley Cyrus, and Sting.
Ma has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006.[3] He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize in 1978, The Glenn Gould Prize in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001,[4] the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, Kennedy Center Honors in 2011, the Polar Music Prize in 2012, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize in 2022.[5] He was named as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[6]
Ma's primary performance instrument is the Davidov cello, made in 1712 by Antonio Stradivari.[7]
Early life and education[edit]
Ma's mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a violinist, composer[8] and professor of music at Nanjing National Central University (now relocated in Taoyuan, Taiwan; predecessor of the present-day Nanjing University and Southeast University). They both migrated from the Republic of China to France during the Chinese Civil War. Ma's sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, played the violin and piano professionally before obtaining a medical degree from Harvard and becoming a pediatrician.[9] The family moved to New York City when Ma was seven.[10][11]
From the age of three, Ma played the drums, violin, piano, and later viola, but settled on the cello in 1960 at age four. When three-year-old Yo-Yo said he wanted a big instrument, his father went to see Etienne Vatelot, a foremost violin maker in Paris who, after a chat, lent him a 1/16th cello. He jokes that his first choice was the double bass due to its large size, but he compromised and took up the cello instead. When his father realized that Yo-Yo was ready for a better teacher, a well-known cello instructor, Mme Michelle Lepinte, was selected. He began performing before audiences at age five and played for presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy when he was seven.[12][13] At age eight, he appeared on American television with his sister[14] in an event introduced by Leonard Bernstein. In 1964, Isaac Stern introduced them on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and they performed the Sonata of Sammartini. He attended Trinity School in New York but transferred to the Professional Children's School, where he graduated at age 15.[15] He appeared as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations.
Ma studied at the Juilliard School at age 19 with Leonard Rose and attended Columbia University, but dropped out. He later enrolled at Harvard College. Prior to entering Harvard, Ma played in the Marlboro Festival Orchestra under the direction of cellist, conductor and Ma’s childhood hero Pablo Casals. He spent four summers at the Marlboro Music Festival after meeting and falling in love with Mount Holyoke College sophomore and festival administrator Jill Hornor during his first summer there in 1972.[16]
Even before that time, Ma gained fame and performed with many of the world's major orchestras. He has also played chamber music, often with pianist Emanuel Ax, with whom he has a close friendship from their days at Juilliard. Ma received his bachelor's degree in anthropology from Harvard in 1976,[17] and in 1991 received an honorary doctorate from Harvard.[18]
Playing style[edit]
Yo-Yo Ma has been referred to by critics as "omnivorous" and possesses an eclectic repertoire.[34] In addition to numerous recordings of the standard classical repertoire, he has recorded Baroque pieces using period instruments; American bluegrass music; traditional Chinese melodies, including the soundtrack to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; the tangos of Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla; Brazilian music, recording traditional and contemporary songs composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Pixinguinha; a collaboration with Bobby McFerrin (where Ma admitted to being terrified by McFerrin's improvisation); and the music of modern minimalist Philip Glass, in such works as the 2002 Naqoyqatsi.
Ma is known for his smooth, rich tone, soulful lyricism, and virtuosity.[35] He released a cello recording of Niccolò Paganini's Caprice No. 24 for solo violin and Zoltán Kodály's Solo Sonata.
Instruments[edit]
Ma's primary performance instrument is the Davidov cello, made in 1712 by Antonio Stradivari.[36] It was previously owned by Jacqueline du Pré, who bequeathed it to him. Du Pré voiced her frustration with the cello's "unpredictability", but Ma attributed du Pré's sentiment to her impassioned style of playing, adding that the Stradivarius cello must be "coaxed" by the player.[37] Prior to the Davidov, he performed on a 1722 Matteo Gofriller cello which he used for much of his early career. The instrument was previously in the possession of the French cellist Pierre Fournier.[38]
Ma also plays on a 1733 Domenico Montagnana cello, named the "Petunia". In 2005, it was valued at US$2.5 million (US$3.9 million in 2023 prices). A student approached Ma after one of his classes in Salt Lake City and asked if the cello had a nickname. Ma replied, "No, but if I play for you, will you name it?" The student chose Petunia, and it stuck.[39] In 1999, Ma inadvertently left the cello in a taxicab in New York City, but it was quickly returned undamaged.[40] That year, when its neck was damaged during X-ray baggage inspection, he borrowed the Pawle Stradivarius cello from the Chimei Museum for a concert in Taiwan. The damage was repaired in time, but Ma played both Petunia and Pawle in the concert nonetheless.[41][42][43]
Ma also owns a modern cello made by Peter and Wendela Moes of Warrenton, Virginia, one of carbon fiber by the Luis and Clark company of Boston,[44] and a Samuel Zygmuntowicz cello. According to Zygmuntowicz, he "wants to give (Ma) a reason to leave his Montagnana at home."[45]
Media appearances[edit]
Ma appeared as himself in an episode ("My Music Rules") of the animated children's television series Arthur, and on The West Wing (the episode "Noël"), where he played the prelude to Bach's Cello Suite No.1 at a Congressional Christmas party. He made five appearances on Sesame Street, all of which first aired during the show's 17th season in 1986. He appeared in The Simpsons episode "Puffless", where he played a serenade and theme music. Ma's likeness appeared in another Simpsons episode, "Missionary: Impossible", but he was played by regular Simpsons cast member Hank Azaria rather than Ma himself. Ma appeared twice on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, developed a friendship with creator and host Fred Rogers, and later received the inaugural Fred Rogers Legacy Award.
He also starred in the visual accompaniment to his recordings of Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello.
Ma was often invited to press events by Apple Inc. and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, performed during the company's major events, and appeared in a commercial for the Macintosh computer. Ma's Bach recordings were used in a memorial video released by Apple on the first anniversary of Jobs's death.[60]
Ma was a guest on the "Not My Job" segment of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on April 7, 2007, where he won for listener Thad Moore.[61]
On October 27, 2008, Ma appeared as a guest and performer on The Colbert Report.[62] He was also one of the show's guests on November 1, 2011, where he performed songs from the album The Goat Rodeo Sessions with musicians Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile.[63] He also performed several of Bach's cello suites for the 2012 film Bill W. On October 5, 2015, he appeared on Colbert's new program, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in support of ballerina Misty Copeland, and prematurely celebrating his 60th birthday.
In August 2018, Ma appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.[64]
On June 19, 2020, the same group of musicians who recorded The Goat Rodeo Sessions released a second album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo.
On September 1, 2020, the same group performed a virtual concert of some songs from Not Our First Goat Rodeo on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.[65]
On June 13, 2021, Ma was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.[66] His musical choices included "Tin Tin Deo" by the Oscar Peterson Trio and "Podmoskovnye Vechera - Moscow Nights" by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi. He selected as his book the 24 volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica, and as his luxury item a Swiss Army knife. He revealed that his career in music felt like a "gift" after scoliosis threatened his ability to play in his 20s.[67][68]
In 2022, Ma made a cameo appearance as himself in the Netflix film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.[69]
Personal life[edit]
Since 1978, Ma has been married to Jill Hornor, an arts consultant.[70] They have two children, Nicholas and Emily.[11][71] Although he personally considers it the "worst epithet he's ever faced," he was "tagged" in 2001 as "Sexiest Classical Musician" by People.[72] He has continued to receive such accolades over the years, including from AARP in 2012, when Ma was named one of the "21 sexiest men over 50."[73]
According to research presented by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. for the PBS series Faces of America, a relative hid the Ma family genealogy in his home in China to save it from destruction during the Cultural Revolution. Ma's paternal ancestry can be traced back 18 generations to the year 1217. The genealogy was compiled in the 18th century by an ancestor, tracing everyone with the surname Ma, through the paternal line, back to one common ancestor in the 3rd century BC. Ma's generation name, Yo, was decided by his fourth great grand-uncle, Ma Ji Cang, in 1755.[74][75] DNA research revealed that Ma is distantly related to actress Eva Longoria.[76]
Aside from English, Ma is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and French.[77][78]
