Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
-born
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
virtuosoA virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
cellist and
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
and winner of multiple
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
s. He is one of the most revered cellists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He is also a highly accomplished musician on the
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
,
violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
, and
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
.
Biography
Yo-Yo Ma was born in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to
ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the territories administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
parents and had a musical upbringing. His mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a professor of music. His family moved to
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
when he was four years old.
At a very young age, Ma began studying
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
, and later
violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
, before finding his true calling by taking up the
celloThe cello is a bowed string instrument. The word derives from the Italian violoncello. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra...
in 1960 at age four. The
child prodigyA child prodigy is someone who at an early age masters one or more skills at an adult level. One heuristic for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 15 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding field of endeavor...
began performing before audiences at age five, and performed for President
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
when he was seven. At age eight, he appeared on American television with his sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, in a concert conducted by
Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
. By fifteen years of age, Ma had graduated from Trinity School in New York and appeared as a soloist with the
Harvard Radcliffe OrchestraThe Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra is a collegiate symphony orchestra comprised of Harvard students and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in March of 1808 as the Pierian Sodality, the orchestra is considered by some to be the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States...
in a performance of the
Tchaikovsky: Rococo VariationsThe Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, for cello and orchestra was the closest Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a full concerto for cello and orchestra. The style was inspired by Mozart, Tchaikovsky's role model, and makes it clear that Tchaikovsky admired the Classical style very...
.
Ma studied at the
Juilliard School of MusicThe Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory...
with
Leonard RoseLeonard Rose was a great American cellist, considered one of the most important pedagogues of the 20th century.Rose's parents emigrated from Kiev, Ukraine and Leonard was born in Washington, D.C....
and briefly attended
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
before ultimately enrolling at
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
. Prior to entering Harvard, Ma played in the Marlboro Festival Orchestra under the direction of nonagenarian cellist and conductor
Pablo CasalsPau Casals i Defilló , best known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and later conductor...
. Ma would ultimately spend four summers at the Marlboro Music Festival after meeting and falling in love with
Mount Holyoke CollegeMount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is a member of the Seven Sisters and one of the oldest women's colleges in the United States...
sophomore and festival administrator Jill Hornor his first summer there in 1972.
However, even before that time, Ma had steadily gained fame and had performed with most of the world's major orchestras. His recordings and performances of the
Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
: Cello SuitesThe Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. They were most likely composed during the period 1717–1723, when Bach served as a Kapellmeister in Cöthen....
recorded in 1983 and again in 1994-1997 are particularly acclaimed. He has also played a good deal of
chamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, often with the pianist
Emanuel AxEmanuel Ax is a Grammy-winning American-Jewish classical pianist. He is currently a teacher on the faculty of the Juilliard School. He is widely considered to be one of the best living classical pianists.-Early life:...
, with whom he has a close friendship back from their days together at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
Ma received his
bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Harvard in 1976. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate from Harvard.
Ma married his long-time girlfriend Jill Hornor, a
German languageGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
professor, in 1977 and has two children, Nicholas and Emily. They currently reside in
Belmont, MassachusettsBelmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The population was 24,194 at the 2000 census.- History :Belmont was founded on March 18, 1859 by former citizens of, and land from the bordering towns of Watertown, to the south; Waltham, to the west; and Arlington, then...
. Ma's elder sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, who was also born in Paris, is a violinist married to
Michael DadapMichael Dadap is a popular Filipino guitarist, composer, and conductor, and an influential advocate of Filipino folk music. He was influential in the creation of a world-class rondalla ensemble in the United States is also the founding music director of the Iskwelahang Rondalla of Boston,...
, a New York-based guitarist from the Philippines. Yeou-Cheng Ma, executive director, and Michael Dadap, artistic and music director, currently run the
Children's Orchestra SocietyThe Children's Orchestra Society is a non-profit organization in New York City founded by Dr. Hiao Tsiun Ma for musically talented children and teens.-Purpose:...
in Manhasset, Long Island, New York.
Career
Ma currently plays with his own
Silk Road EnsembleSilk Road Project, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and flow of ideas among different cultures along the Silk Road. The...
, which has the goal of bringing together musicians from diverse countries all of which are historically linked via the
Silk RoadThe Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe...
, and records on the Sony Classical label.Ma's primary performance instrument is the
Domenico MontagnanaDomenico Montagnana was an Italian Master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the world's finest violin and cello makers of his time....
1733 cello built in Venice and nicknamed
Petunia. This cello, more than 270 years old and valued at US$2.5 million, was lost in the fall of 1999 when Ma accidentally left the instrument in a taxicab in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. It was later recovered undamaged. Another of Ma's cellos, the
Davidov StradivariusThe Davidov Stradivarius , is an antique cello fabricated in 1712 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy. It is very similar in construction and form to the equally famed Duport Stradivarius built a year earlier and played by Mstislav Rostropovich until his death in 2007...
, was previously owned by
Jacqueline du PréJacqueline Mary du Pré OBE was a British cellist, acknowledged as one of the greatest players of the instrument. She is particularly associated with Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor; her interpretation of that work has been described as "definitive" and "legendary"...
who passed it to him upon her death, and owned by the Vuitton Foundation. Though Du Pré previously voiced her frustration with the "unpredictability" of this cello, Ma attributed the comment to du Pré's impassioned style of playing, adding that the Stradivarius cello must be "coaxed" by the player. It was until recently set up in a
Baroque mannerHistorically informed performance is an approach, or movement, in the performance of classical music...
, since Ma exclusively played
Baroque musicBaroque music describes a style of European classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era...
on it. He also owns a cello made of
carbon fiberCarbon fiber is a material consisting of extremely thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 mm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
by the Luis and Clark company of
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
.
In 1997 he was featured on John Williams' soundtrack to the Hollywood film,
Seven Years in TibetSeven Years in Tibet is a 1997 film based on the book of the same name written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer based on his experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army moving into Tibet in 1950. The...
. In 2000, he was heard on the soundtrack of
Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese-language film in the wuxia style, released in 2000. A China-Hong Kong-Taiwan-United States co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and...
. He collaborated with Williams again on the original score for the 2005 film
Memoirs of a GeishaMemoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...
. Yo-Yo Ma has also worked with world-renowned Italian composer
Ennio MorriconeEnnio Morricone, OMRI , is an Italian composer and conductor. He has composed and arranged scores for more than 500 film and television productions. Morricone is considered as one of the most influential film composers since the late 1950s...
and has recorded Morricone's compositions of the
Dollars TrilogyThe Dollars Trilogy , also known as The Man with No Name Trilogy, refers to the three Italian Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone:* A Fistful of Dollars * For a Few Dollars More...
including
The Good, the Bad and the UglyThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly , is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
. He also has over 75 albums, 15 of which are Grammy Award winners. Ma is a recipient of the International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.
Playing style
Ma has been referred to as "omnivorous" by critics, and possesses a more eclectic repertoire than is typical for classical musicians. A sampling of his versatility in addition to numerous recordings of the standard classical repertoire would include his recordings of
BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
pieces using period instruments; American
bluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has roots in Irish, West African, Scottish, Welsh and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland , and African-Americans, particularly...
; traditional
Chinese melodiesThe music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
including the soundtrack to the film
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; the
tangosTango is a style of syncopated ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, doublebass, and two bandoneons...
of Argentinian composer
Ástor PiazzollaAstor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
; an eclectic and unusual collaboration with
Bobby McFerrinRobert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is a jazz and a cappella vocal performer, vocal improviser and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy".He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
(where Ma admits to being terrified of the improvisation McFerrin pushes him toward); as well as the music of modern
minimalistMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post-World War II Western Art, most strongly with American...
Philip GlassPhilip Morris Glass is an American music composer. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .Although his music is often, though controversially, described as...
in such works as the 2002 piece
NaqoyqatsiNaqoyqatsi, or Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, is a documentary film released in 2002; it is the third and final film of the Qatsi trilogy by Godfrey Reggio. The film focuses on society's transition from a natural environment to a technology-based industrial environment. Koyaanisqatsi, the first of the...
. In 2006, a soundtrack album was released of the music from the 2005 film,
Memoirs of a GeishaMemoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...
. He is known for his smooth, rich tone as well as his considerable virtuosity, including a cello recording of
Niccolò PaganiniNiccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His caprice in A minor, Op. 1 No...
's
24th CapriceCaprice No. 24 in A minor is the final caprice of Niccolò Paganini's 24 Caprices, and a famous work for solo violin. The work, in the key of A minor, consists of a theme, 11 variations, and a finale....
for solo violin,
Zoltán KodályZoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist, and philosopher.-Life:...
's
cello sonataA cello sonata usually denotes a sonata written for cello and piano, though other instrumentations are used, such as solo cello. The most famous Romantic-era cellos sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven...
, and other demanding works.
Appearances
Ma has appeared in an episode of the animated children's television series,
Arthur (though D.W. kept calling him "Yo Ma-Ma"), as well as on
The West Wing (episode "
Noël-Plot:Josh spends the day with a psychotherapist from ATVA recounting events that ended in him putting his hand through a window in his apartment...
", in which he performed the prelude to the Bach Cello Suite No.1 at a Christmas dinner at the White House),
Sesame StreetSesame Street is an American educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. Sesame Street is well known for its Muppets characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and...
and
Mister Rogers' NeighborhoodMister Rogers' Neighborhood or Mister Rogers is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was produced by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA public broadcaster WQED and Rogers' non-profit production company Family Communications, Inc....
, along with an appearance on "
American Dad!American Dad! is a satirical American animated series owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions and produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television....
" in episode 4 of season 4. In
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
episode "
Missionary: Impossible"Missionary: Impossible" is the fifteenth episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons, which originally aired February 20, 2000.-Plot:...
," Ma runs after
Homer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
along with many other frequent guests of PBS. Ma performed a duet with
Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is a professor, diplomat, author, and national security expert. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
at the presentation of the 2001 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal Awards. He also starred in the visual accompaniment to his recordings of
Bach'sJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
Six Suites for Unaccompanied CelloThe Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. They were most likely composed during the period 1717–1723, when Bach served as a Kapellmeister in Cöthen....
. Ma has also been seen with Apple Inc. and former
PixarPixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. To date, the studio has earned twenty-two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements. It is one of the most critically...
CEO
Steve JobsSteven Paul "Steve" Jobs is an American businessman, and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs previously served as CEO of Pixar Animation Studios....
. Ma is often invited to press events for Jobs's companies, and has performed on stage during event keynote presentations, as well as appearing in a commercial for the
MacintoshThe Macintosh, or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced on January 24 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface rather than a...
computer. Ma was the first performer on September 11, 2002, at the site of the World Trade Center, while the first of the names of the dead were read in remembrance on the first anniversary of the attack on the WTC. He played the
SarabandeIn music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of crotchets and minims in alternation...
from Bach's
Suite in C minor (#5). He performed a special arrangement of Sting's "
Fragile"Fragile" is a song composed by English musician Sting from his 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun. Released as a single the following year, it placed to number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. Sung additionally in both Spanish and Portuguese under the title Fragilidad, it appeared twice more on his...
" with Sting and the
Mormon Tabernacle ChoirThe Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to support the organization. The choir's current music director is Mack...
during the opening ceremonies of the
2002 Winter OlympicsThe 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States...
in Salt Lake City,
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
. Ma was named Peace Ambassador by
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
then Secretary-General
Kofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan, Honorary GCMG is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 1 January 2007. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.-Early years and family:Kofi Annan was born in the...
in January 2006. Ma was a guest on the Not My Job segment of
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly radio news quiz game show produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio. It is distributed by NPR in the United States and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member stations.-Format:The show is hosted by...
on April 7, 2007, where he won for listener Thad Moore.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9450562 He was occasionally referenced in
SeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. The eponymous series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, with the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
.
Cosmo KramerCosmo Kramer, referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
would involuntarily exclaim "Yo Yo Ma!" at random intervals after being kicked in the head. On October 27, 2008, Ma appeared as a guest and performer on
The Colbert ReportThe Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States and on both The Comedy Network and CTV in Canada...
. Yo Yo is mentioned in Richard Linklater's 2003 film
School of RockSchool of Rock is a 2003 American comedy film from Paramount Pictures, starring Jack Black. The film was written specifically for Black by Mike White and directed by Richard Linklater...
, starring
Jack BlackJack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 70s UK punk band The Boys...
and written by Mike White.
He performed
John WilliamsJohn Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Star Wars, Superman, Home Alone, the first three Harry Potter movies and all but two of Steven...
' "
Air and Simple GiftsAir and Simple Gifts is a classical quartet composed and arranged by American composer John Williams for the January 20, 2009, inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States...
" at the inauguration ceremony for
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
on January 20, 2009, along with
Itzhak PerlmanItzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American violin virtuoso, conductor, and instructor. He is widely considered as one of the preeminent violin virtuosi of the 20th century.-Biography:...
(violin),
Gabriela MonteroGabriela Montero is a Venezuelan pianist.Montero gave her first public performance at the age of five. At age eight, she made her concert debut with the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, conducted by José Antonio Abreu and was granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the USA...
(piano) and
Anthony McGillAnthony McGill is the principal clarinetist for the Metropolitan Opera. McGill is originally from Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's Chatham neighborhood....
(clarinet). While the quartet did play live, the music played simultaneously over speakers and on television was a recording made two days prior due to concerns over the cold weather damaging the instruments. Ma was quoted as saying "A broken string was not an option. It was wicked cold."
On August 29, 2009, Ma performed at the funeral mass for
Senator Edward M. KennedyEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in November 1962, he was elected nine times and served for 46 years in the U.S. Senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate, and...
. Pieces he performed included the Sarabande movement from Bach's
Cello Suite No. 6The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. They were most likely composed during the period 1717–1723, when Bach served as a Kapellmeister in Cöthen....
, and
FranckCésar Franck , a Belgian composer, organist and music teacher who lived in France, was one of the great figures in Romantic music in the second half of the 19th century.- Biography :...
's
Panis AngelicusPanis angelicus is the penultimate strophe of the hymn written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the Feast including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours....
with
Placido DomingoJosé Plácido Domingo Embil , better known as Plácido Domingo, is a Spanish tenor, known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range. In March 2008, he debuted in his 128th opera role, giving Domingo more roles than any other tenor...
.
On October 3, 2009, Ma appeared alongside Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen HarperStephen Joseph Harper, PC, MP is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada, and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became Prime Minister after his party won a minority government in the January 2006 federal election...
at the National Arts Centre gala in Ottawa. Harper, a noted Beatles fan, played the Piano and sang a rendition of "With A Little Help From My Friends" while Ma accompanied him on his cello.
Awards and recognitions
Avery Fisher PrizeThe Avery Fisher Prize is an award given to American musicians for outstanding achievement in classical music. Founded by philanthropist Avery Fisher in 1974, it is regarded as one of the most significant awards for American instrumentalists. The award is decided by members of the Avery Fisher...
Dan David PrizeThe Dan David Prize is an annual award of $1 million each awarded by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University to three individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the fields of science, technology, culture or social welfare. There are three prize categories - past, present and...
Award of Distinction (International Cello Festival)
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1959 to 1960 the award was known as Best Classical Performance - Chamber Music ...
:
- 1996
The 38th Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the night's big winner winning four awards including Album of the Year.- Award winners :...
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
/BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
/MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
: Clarinet Trios (Sony 57499)
- 1993
The 35th Grammy Awards were held in 1993. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Eric Clapton was the night's big winner, winning 6 awards including Album of the Year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
: Sonatas for Cello & Piano (Sony 48191)
- 1992
The 34th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1992. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year . Natalie Cole was the big winner winning three awards including Album of the Year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
: Piano Quartets Op. 25, Op. 26) (Sony 45846)
- 1987
The 29th Grammy Awards were held in 1987. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.__FORCETOC__- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Russ Titelman , Steve Winwood for "Higher Love"*Album of the Year...
BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations (CBS 42121)
- 1986
The 28th Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1986. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year, 1985.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Quincy Jones for "We Are the World" performed by USA for Africa...
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor Op. 38, and F Op. 99 (RCA 17022)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance has been awarded since 1959. From 1967 to 1971 and in 1987 the award was combined with the award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance and awarded as the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists...
:
- 1998
The 40th Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan emerged as the big winner winning three awards including Album of the Year.- Award winners :* Record of the Year...
Yo-Yo Ma Premieres - Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse (Sony Classical 66299)
- 1995
The 37th Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1995. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Bill Bottrell & Sheryl Crow for "All I Wanna Do"*Album of the Year...
The New York Album - Works of AlbertStephen Albert was an American composer.Born in New York City on 6 February 1941, Albert began his musical training on the piano, French horn, and trumpet as a youngster. He first studied composition at the age of 15 with Elie Siegmeister, and enrolled two years later at the Eastman School of...
, BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist, considered to be one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and regarded, along with Liszt, as his country's greatest composer...
& BlochErnest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
(Sony 57961)
- 1993
The 35th Grammy Awards were held in 1993. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Eric Clapton was the night's big winner, winning 6 awards including Album of the Year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
: Sinfonia Concertante/TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
[The subject's names are also transliterated Piotr, Petr, or Peter; Ilitsch, Ilich, Il'ich or Illyich; and Tschaikowski, Tschaikowsky, Chajkovskij and Chaikovsky...]
: Variations on a Rococo Theme (Sony 48382)
- 1990
The 32nd Grammy Awards were held in 1990. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Arif Mardin & Bette Midler for "Wind Beneath My Wings"*Album of the Year...
BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is among his most popular compositions and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music....
: Cello Concerto, Op. 22/BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, violist and pianist.-Life:...
: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68 (CBS 44900)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance has been awarded since 1959. From 1967 to 1971 and in 1987 the award was combined with the award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance and awarded as the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists...
:
- 1985
The 27th Grammy Awards were held February 26, 1985, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1984.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
: The Unaccompanied Cello Suites (CBS 37867)
Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. This award was not presented from 1967 to 1984.The award has had several minor name changes:...
:
- 1995
The 37th Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1995. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Bill Bottrell & Sheryl Crow for "All I Wanna Do"*Album of the Year...
The New York Album, Stephen AlbertStephen Albert was an American composer.Born in New York City on 6 February 1941, Albert began his musical training on the piano, French horn, and trumpet as a youngster. He first studied composition at the age of 15 with Elie Siegmeister, and enrolled two years later at the Eastman School of...
: Cello Concerto (Sony 57961)
Grammy Award for Best Classical AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Classical Album has been awarded since 1962. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year - Classical...
:
- 1998
The 40th Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan emerged as the big winner winning three awards including Album of the Year.- Award winners :* Record of the Year...
Yo-Yo Ma Premieres - Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse (Sony Classical 66299)
Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album has been awarded since 1999.Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.-2000s:*Grammy Awards of 2009**The King's Singers for Simple Gifts...
:
- 2004
The 46th Grammy Awards were held on the February 8, 2004. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Beyoncé Knowles was the night's biggest winner by taking home 5 Grammys.-General:*Record of the Year...
Obrigado Brazil (Sony 89935)
- 2001
The 43rd Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001. Steely Dan was the biggest winner winning three awards including Album of the Year for Two Against Nature...
Appalachian JourneyAppalachian Journey is the second album from the string trio of bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. James Taylor and Alison Krauss join the trio individually on two Stephen Foster songs arranged for the trio. Sony Classical released the disc...
(Sony 66782)
- 1999
The 41st Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill was the nights big winner winning a total of 5 awards including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. She set the record for most awards won by a female artist won in...
Soul of the Tango - The Music of Ástor PiazzollaAstor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
(Sony Classical 63122)
Latin Grammy for Best Instrumental AlbumThe Latin Grammy Awards were launched in 2000 with a telecast aired on CBS. It was the first primarily Spanish language primetime program carried on an English-language television network. Like the Grammy Awards, the Latin Grammys recognize artistic and technical excellence in the recording arts...
- 2004
The 5th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on Wednesday, September 1, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.This was the last telecast of the awards nationally in the United States in English with a CBS contract. Effective in 2005, the awards were announced in Spanish with an exclusive...
Obrigado Brazil (Sony 89935)
Glenn Gould PrizeThe Glenn Gould Prize is an international award bestowed by the Glenn Gould Foundation in memory of noted Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. It is awarded every third year to a living individual in recognition of his/her contributions to music and communication....
Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.)The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctoral academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The D.M.A...
(
honoris causa)
- 2005 Princeton University
Princeton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
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