Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four and soon came with his family to New York, where he spent most of his formative years. The child prodigy began performing before audiences at age five, and performed for President John F. Kennedy when he was seven. At 8-years-old, he appeared on American television in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. By 15, Ma had graduated from Trinity School in New York and appeared as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra. He went on to study with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. He sought out a traditional liberal arts education to expand upon his conservatory training, graduating from Harvard University in 1976.
Ma made his first recordings in 1979, for the Lyrita label. In 1980, he formed an exclusive relationship with the Sony Classical recording company (at that time, CBS Masterworks), for which he has produced more than 75 albums (including more than 15 Grammy Award winners). His recordings include most of the standard cello repertoire—solo, concerto and chamber—along with music of the crossover and world genres. He has collaborated with such musicians as violist Isaac Stern, singer/composer Bobby McFerrin, bluegrass fiddler Marc O’Conner and Argentinian music pioneer Astor Piazzolla. His own Silk Road Ensemble has the goal of bringing together musicians from the diverse countries that are historically linked via the Silk Road.
In addition to receiving a Library of Congress Living Legend Award in 2000, Ma’s numerous awards include the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the Glenn Gould Prize (1999), the National Medal of the Arts (2001), the Dan David Prize (2006) and the Sonning Prize (2006). Appointed a CultureConnect Ambassador by the United States Department of State in 2002, he has met with, trained and mentored thousands of students worldwide. In 2006, former Secretary General Kofi Annan named him a U.N. Peace Ambassador.
Ma's primary performance instrument is the Domenico Montagnana 1733 cello built in Venice and nicknamed Petunia. He also plays 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius, which was previously owned by Jacqueline du Pré.
Related Library Resources:
- Interview in “The Virtuosos: Great Conversations in Music”
- Yo-Yo Ma receives the Library of Congress “Living Legend Award”
- Hiao-Tsiun Ma’s (Yo-Yo Ma’s father) Petition for Naturalization (National Archives)
Other Influential Asian/Pacific Americans:
Last Updated: 04/25/2008