Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a world-famous French-born Chinese-American cellist. He is considered one of the best cellists in the world. He was born in Paris to Chinese parents and had a musical upbringing. His mother, Marina Lu (Chinese: 盧雅文; Pinyin: Lú Yǎwén), was a singer, while his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma (Chinese: 馬孝駿; Pinyin: Mǎ Xiàojùn), was a conductor and composer. Ma began to study the violin, then the viola, before taking up the cello. His family moved to New York when he was seven years old.
Ma was a child prodigy, appearing on American television at the age of eight in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. He entered the Juilliard School, and then went to Harvard University (where he was in the Currier House dormitory), but had begun to question whether to continue his studies until, in the 1970s, Pablo Casals's performing inspired him.
However, even before that time, he had steadily gained in fame, and had performed with most of the world's major orchestras. His recordings and performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's suites for unaccompanied cello are particularly acclaimed, and he has also played a good deal of chamber music - often with the pianist Emanuel Ax, with whom he has a close friendship stretching back to their days at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
His main performance instrument is a very fine Montagnana cello, "Petunia", from Venice, made in 1733, which he once absentmindedly left in a taxi cab in New York. One of his other cellos, the "Davidov Stradivarius", was previously played regularly by Jacqueline du Pré and left to him upon her death. Du Pre had previously voiced her frustration with that cello's 'unpredictability', while Ma puts this down to Du Pre's passionate style of playing, and says that this cello has to 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 by American luthier firm Moes & Moes, and has a carbon-fiber cello made by Boston firm Luis & Clark.
Yo-Yo Ma has been called "the most omnivorous of all cellists" by critics and indeed possesses a far more eclectic repertoire than is typical for a classical player. He has performed and recorded Baroque pieces on period instruments, American bluegrass music, traditional Chinese melodies, the Argentinian tangos of Astor Piazzolla, Brazilian music, the soundtrack to the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Philip Glass's minimalist score of Naqoyqatsi in addition to numerous recordings of the standard classical repertoire. His latest CD is a collaboration with other musicians for the Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack.
He currently plays in his own project, The 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.
Ma married his long-time girlfriend, Jill Hornor, a violinist, in 1978. They have two children, Nicholas and Emily. Ma's elder sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma (馬友乘), also born in Paris, is a violinist, married to Michael Dadap, a New York guitarist. Together, they currently run the Children's Orchestra Society (COS) on Long Island.
Ma has appeared in an episode of the animated children's television series, Arthur, as well as on The West Wing, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He also starred in the visual accompaniment to his recordings of the 6 Bach cello suites.
Ma has also been seen with Apple Computer and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. Yo-Yo Ma is often invited to press events for Jobs's companies, even performing on stage during an Apple Keynote presented by Mr. Jobs.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced in January of 2006 that Ma will take on a new role as a UN Peace Ambassador.
