Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma
Ma with his Luis and Clark carbon fiber cello
Background information
Born	October 7, 1955 (1955-10-07) (age 54) Paris, France
Genre(s)	Classical
Occupation(s)	Cellist, composer, pedagogue
Instrument(s)	Piano, viola, violin, violoncello
Years active	fl. ca. 1961-present
Label(s)	CBS, RCA, Sony
Associated acts	Silk Road Ensemble
Website	www.yo-yoma.com
Notable instrument(s)
Violoncello Davydov 1712 Stradivarius Domenico Montagnana 1733 Luis and Clark

This is an Anglicized version of the Chinese name "Ma Yo-yo"; the family name is "Ma".

Yo-Yo Ma (traditional Chinese: 馬友友; simplified Chinese: 马友友; pinyin: Mǎ Yǒuyǒu) (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born Chinese American^[1] cellist and winner of multiple Grammy Awards. He is generally considered to be the most famous, living cellist—or even classical musician^[2]—in the world.^[3][4]

Biography

Yo-Yo Ma was born in Paris to Chinese parents and had a musical upbringing. His mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a professor of music. His family moved to New York when he was four years old.

At a very young age, Ma began studying violin, and later viola, before taking up the cello in 1960 at age four. The child prodigy began performing before audiences at age five, and performed for President John F. Kennedy when he was seven.^[5] At eight years old, he appeared on American television in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. By fifteen years of age, Ma had graduated from Trinity School in New York and appeared as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra in a performance of the Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations.

Ma studied at the Juilliard School of Music with Leonard Rose, and attended Columbia University, before enrolling at Harvard University, but began questioning whether he should continue his studies until, in the 1970s, Pablo Casals's performances inspired him.

However, even before that time he had steadily gained fame and had performed with most of the world's major orchestras. His recordings and performances of the Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suites recorded in 1983 and again in 1994-1997 are particularly acclaimed. He has also played a good deal of chamber music, often with the pianist Emanuel Ax with whom he has a close friendship back from their days together at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.

He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1976.^[6] In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate from Harvard.^[7]

Career

Ma performs at the White House for (left to right, seated) President Ronald Reagan, Crown Princess Michiko and Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, and First Lady Nancy Reagan, 1987

Ma with Condoleezza Rice after performing a duet at the presentation of the 2001 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal Awards

Ma married his long-time girlfriend Jill Hornor in 1977 and had two children, Nicholas and Emily. They currently reside in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ma's elder sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, who was also born in Paris, is a violinist married to Michael Dadap, a New York guitarist. Together they currently run the Children's Orchestra Society in Manhasset, Long Island, New York.

Ma currently plays with his own Silk Road Ensemble, which has the goal of bringing together musicians from diverse countries all of which are historically linked via the Silk Road, and records on the Sony Classical label.^[8]Ma's primary performance instrument is the Domenico Montagnana 1733 cello built in Venice and nicknamed Petunia. This cello, more than 270 years old and valued at US$2.5 million, was lost in the fall of 1999 when Ma accidentally left the instrument in a taxicab in New York City.^[9] It was later recovered undamaged. Another of Ma's cellos, the Davidov Stradivarius, was previously owned by Jacqueline du Pré who passed it to him upon her death, and owned by the Vuitton Foundation. Though Du Pré previously voiced her frustration with the "unpredictability" of this cello, Ma attributed the comment to du Pré's impassioned style of playing, adding that the Stradivarius cello must be "coaxed" by the player. It was until recently set up in a Baroque manner, since Ma exclusively played Baroque music on it. He also owns a cello made of carbon fiber by the Luis and Clark company of Boston.^[10]

In 1997 he was featured on John Williams' soundtrack to the Hollywood film, Seven Years in Tibet. In 2000, he was heard on the soundtrack of the blockbuster film hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He collaborated with Williams again on the original score for the 2005 film Memoirs of a Geisha. Yo-Yo Ma has also worked with world renowned Italian composer Ennio Morricone and has recorded Morricone's compositions of the Dollars Trilogy including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He also has over 75 albums, 15 of which are Grammy Award winners. Mr. Ma is a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

Playing style

Ma has been referred to as “omnivorous” by critics, and possesses a more eclectic repertoire than is typical for classical musicians.^[11] A sampling of his versatility in addition to numerous recordings of the standard classical repertoire would include his recordings of 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 Ástor Piazzolla; an eclectic and unusual collaboration with Bobby McFerrin (where Ma admits to being terrified of the improvisation McFerrin pushes him toward); as well as the music of modern minimalist Philip Glass in such works as the 2002 piece, Naqoyqatsi. In 2006, a soundtrack album was released of the music from the 2005 film, Memoirs of a Geisha. He is known for his smooth, rich tone as well as his considerable virtuosity, including a cello recording of Niccolò Paganini's 24th Caprice for solo violin, Zoltán Kodály's cello sonata, and other demanding works.

Appearances

Ma plays the cello during the 'Presentation of the Crystal Award' at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 25, 2008.

Ma has appeared in an episode of the animated children's television series, Arthur (though D.W. kept calling him "Yo Ma-Ma"), as well as on The West Wing (episode "Noël", in which he performed the prelude to the Bach Cello Suite No.1 at a Christmas dinner at the White House), Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In The Simpsons episode "Missionary: Impossible," Ma runs after Homer Simpson along with many other frequent guests of PBS. His name is also mentioned in an episode of "The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody" Ma performed a duet with Condoleezza Rice at the presentation of the 2001 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal Awards. He also starred in the visual accompaniment to his recordings of the Bach: Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. Ma has also been seen with Apple Computer and former Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. Ma is often invited to press events for Jobs's companies, and has performed on stage during event keynote presentations. Ma was the first performer on September 11, 2002, at the site of the World Trade Center, while the first of the names of the dead were read in remembrance on the first anniversary of the attack on the WTC. He played the Sarabande movement from Bach's Suite in C minor (#5). He performed a special arrangement of Sting's "Fragile" with Sting and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ma was named Peace Ambassador by United Nations then Secretary-General Kofi Annan in January 2006.^[12] 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. He was occasionally referenced in Seinfeld. Cosmo Kramer would involuntarily exclaim "Yo Yo Ma!" at random intervals after being kicked in the head.^[13][14] On October 27, 2008, Ma appeared as a guest and performer on The Colbert Report.^[15] Yo Yo is mentioned in Richard Linklater's 2003 film School of Rock, starring Jack Black and written by Mike White.

Discography

Further information: Yo-Yo Ma discography

Awards and recognitions

Avery Fisher Prize

• 1978

Dan David Prize

• 2006

Award of Distinction (International Cello Festival)

• 2007

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

• 1996 Brahms/Beethoven/Mozart: Clarinet Trios (Sony 57499)
• 1993 Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano (Sony 48191)
• 1992 Brahms: Piano Quartets Op. 25, Op. 26) (Sony 45846)
• 1987 Beethoven: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations (CBS 42121)
• 1986 Brahms: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor Op. 38, and F Op. 99 (RCA 17022)

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance:

• 1998 Yo-Yo Ma Premieres - Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse (Sony Classical 66299)
• 1995 The New York Album - Works of Albert, Bartók & Bloch (Sony 57961)
• 1993 Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante/Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme (Sony 48382)
• 1990 Barber: Cello Concerto, Op. 22/Britten: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68 (CBS 44900)

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance:

• 1985 Bach: The Unaccompanied Cello Suites (CBS 37867)

Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition:

• 1995 The New York Album, Stephen Albert: Cello Concerto (Sony 57961)

Grammy Award for Best Classical Album:

• 1998 Yo-Yo Ma Premieres - Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse (Sony Classical 66299)

Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album:

• 2004 Obrigado Brazil (Sony 89935)
• 2001 Appalachian Journey (Sony 66782)
• 1999 Soul of the Tango - The Music of Ástor Piazzolla (Sony Classical 63122)

Latin Grammy for Best Instrumental Album

• 2004 Obrigado Brazil (Sony 89935)

Glenn Gould Prize

• 1999

Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) (honoris causa)

• 2005 Princeton University

References

External links

• Official Website
• Yo-Yo Ma at Allmusic
• About Us, The Children's Orchestra Society, ChildrensOrch.org, 2007
• Yo-Yo Ma in Conversation from WGBH Radio Boston
• Yo-Yo Ma Interview on Time.com, October 2008
• Yo-Yo Ma Podcast Series produced by Sony BMG Masterworks