
Yo-Yo Ma
Biography
Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born to Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy, and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, Ma moved with his family to Boston and later to New York City, where he continued his cello studies at the Juilliard School before pursuing a liberal arts education at Harvard University. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world, recorded more than 92 albums, and received 19 Grammy Awards. 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, Zakir Hussain, and Sting. Ma has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006. 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, 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. He was named as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Ma's primary performance instrument is the Davidov cello, made in 1712 by Antonio Stradivari. Ma's mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a violinist, composer 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, played the violin and piano professionally before obtaining a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and becoming a pediatrician. The family moved to Boston when Ma was seven. ... Source: Article "Yo-Yo Ma" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Known For(40 works)

The Simpsons
1989The Simpsons
1989

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015

Frasier
1993Frasier
1993

The Colbert Report
2005The Colbert Report
2005

The West Wing
1999The West Wing
1999

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992

Arthur
1996Arthur
1996

Le Grand Échiquier
1972Le Grand Échiquier
1972

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2022Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2022

Desus & Mero
2019Desus & Mero
2019

Music by John Williams
2024Music by John Williams
2024

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
2018Won't You Be My Neighbor?
2018

The Words That Built America
2017The Words That Built America
2017

Deeper Look from New York
2020Deeper Look from New York
2020

Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood
2018Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood
2018

Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
2018Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
2018

Chris Botti in Boston
2009Chris Botti in Boston
2009

Notre-Dame de Paris : La Réouverture - La Grande Soirée
2024Notre-Dame de Paris : La Réouverture - La Grande Soirée
2024

The Best of Sessions at West 54th: Vol. 1
1997The Best of Sessions at West 54th: Vol. 1
1997

Beethoven: Triple Concerto And Choral Fantasy
1995Beethoven: Triple Concerto And Choral Fantasy
1995

Appalachian Journey Live In Concert
2000Appalachian Journey Live In Concert
2000

Blue Gold: American Jeans
2017Blue Gold: American Jeans
2017

Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
2025Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
2025

Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach
1998Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach
1998

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
2016The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
2016

Sarabande
1997Sarabande
1997

Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration
1993Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration
1993

Bach Cello Suite #1: The Music Garden
1997Bach Cello Suite #1: The Music Garden
1997

Bach Cello Suite #2: The Sound of the Carceri
1997Bach Cello Suite #2: The Sound of the Carceri
1997

How to Grow a Band
2012How to Grow a Band
2012

Half Moon
2025Half Moon
2025

Six Gestures
1997Six Gestures
1997

The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live
2012The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live
2012

Yo Yo Ma: The Bach Project– Six Cello Suites
2015Yo Yo Ma: The Bach Project– Six Cello Suites
2015

Ozawa
1985Ozawa
1985

Appointment With The Wise Old Dog
1998Appointment With The Wise Old Dog
1998