Yo-Yo Ma
Date of birth: 1955-10-07
Place of birth: Paris, France
Known for: Sound
Also known as: یو-یو ما
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.
Movie Credits
Appointment With The Wise Old Dog
1998-01-01
David Blum, the internationally respected musician and writer, produced this film as he neared death
Appalachian Journey Live In Concert
2000-08-08
April 5th, 2000... On the heels of their unanimously acclaimed albums "Appalachia Waltz" and "Appala
The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live
2012-05-25
Live performance from a group of celebrated string musicians, comprising cellist Yo-Yo Ma, fiddler S
Bach Cello Suite #1: The Music Garden
1997-10-23
The Music Garden is an exploration of music as interpreted through gardening on a grand scale. The f
Bach Cello Suite #2: The Sound of the Carceri
1997-10-23
THE SOUND OF THE CARCERI explores the deep relationship between music and architecture through a hig
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
2018-06-29
For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, produ
Falling Down Stairs
1997-10-24
Renowned cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma embarks on an intense year long collaboration with choreographer Ma
Sarabande
1997-10-24
The film explores the relationships that a limousine driver, a doctor, and a real estate agent have
Blue Gold: American Jeans
2017-04-04
Tracing the history of blue jeans around the globe.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2022-11-23
World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery surrounding
Beethoven - Choral Fantasy and Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello & Piano
2003-02-11
The music is not Beethoven's most familiar, but it is absolutely charming. The concerto is appealing
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
2004-10-20
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone DVD
Struggle for Hope
1997-10-25
Master Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando sets out on a journey to discover, through traditional Japanese
The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
2016-06-10
Follow several talented members of the ensemble as they gather in locations across the world, explor
Music by John Williams
2024-11-01
His unforgettable scores are an essential part of some of the most beloved movies of our time, over
Chris Botti in Boston
2009-03-31
Chart-topping jazz trumpeter Chris Botti and special guests performed two star-studded concerts at t
The Words That Built America
2017-07-04
In recognition of the 4th of July, several celebrities and politicians of differing ideologies join
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
2018-03-06
Join host Michael Keaton to celebrate "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood," the pioneering children's serie
The Best of Sessions at West 54th: Vol. 1
1997-12-19
Collecting highlights from the debut season of the acclaimed PBS series "Sessions at West 54th," thi
Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood
2018-12-28
In honor of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, Tanglewood—the famed summer home of the Boston Symph
Ozawa
1985-01-01
This intimate portrait of the legendary conductor Seiji Ozawa focuses on the Japanese master and tea
Beethoven: Triple Concerto And Choral Fantasy
1995-09-07
Daniel Barenboim conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in performances of Beethoven's 'Triple Concert
Yo Yo Ma: The Bach Project– Six Cello Suites
2015-09-10
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has the Royal Albert Hall stage to himself for this Late Night Prom as he takes on
Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration
1993-12-16
Three big names from the classical music scene -- legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, celebrated cel
Notre-Dame de Paris : La Réouverture - La Grande Soirée
2024-12-07
Half Moon
2025-03-06
An elegiac documentary following virtuosic clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh, a Damascus-born mu
Six Gestures
1997-10-25
Inspired by Bach presents cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by J.S.
Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
2025-03-25
Yo-Yo Ma narrates a documentary about the remarkable cellist Jacqueline du Pré, whose life and caree
How to Grow a Band
2012-04-13
Chris Thile is at a crossroads. His marriage has ended and his platinum-selling band, Nickel Creek,