Known For
Sound
Born
Oct 07, 1955
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Credits
55 titles
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
Filmography
Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
Self - Narrator (voice)
Half Moon
Self
Notre-Dame de Paris : La Réouverture - La Grande Soirée
Self
Facing the Wind
Executive Producer
Music by John Williams
Self - Cellist
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Yo-Yo Ma
Dancing Nation
Music
Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony No. 7
Deeper Look from New York
Self
Desus & Mero
Self
Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood
Self - Cellist
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Self - Musician and Fred's Friend
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
Self - Guest
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
Self
The Vietnam War
Additional Music
The Words That Built America
Self - Reader: Declaration of Independence
Blue Gold: American Jeans
Self
The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
Self
Yo Yo Ma: The Bach Project– Six Cello Suites
Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Musical Guest
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Self (voice)
Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration
Himself
The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live
Self
How to Grow a Band
Self
Chris Botti in Boston
Self
Memoirs of a Geisha
Musician
The Colbert Report
Self - Guest
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Self
Beethoven - Choral Fantasy and Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello & Piano
Self (cellist)
Naqoyqatsi
Musician
Appalachian Journey Live In Concert
Self
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Musician
The West Wing
Yo-Yo Ma
Children of the Night
Songs
Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach
Self
Appointment With The Wise Old Dog
Self
The Best of Sessions at West 54th: Vol. 1
Self
Struggle for Hope
Self
Six Gestures
Self
Sarabande
Self
Falling Down Stairs
Self
Bach Cello Suite #2: The Sound of the Carceri
Self
Bach Cello Suite #1: The Music Garden
Self
Seven Years in Tibet
Musician
Arthur
Yo-Yo Ma (voice)
Beethoven: Triple Concerto And Choral Fantasy
Self
Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration
Self
Frasier
Tom (voice)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self
Tchaikovsky: 150th Birthday Gala from Leningrad
Self - Performer