Yo-Yo Ma
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Yo-Yo Ma (Template:Zh-cp) (born October 7, 1955) is a world-famous French-Chinese-American cellist. He is considered one of the best cellists in the world.
He was born in Paris to Chinese parents (with ancestry in Zhejiang), and had a musical upbringing. His mother, Marina Lu (盧雅文), was a singer, while his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma (馬孝駿), 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.
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 was questioning whether he should continue his studies until, in the 1970s, Pablo Casals's performing inspired him.
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Since that time, he has steadily gained in fame, and has 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.
His main performance instrument is a very fine Montagnana cello from Venice, made in 1733. One of his other cellos, the "Davidov Stradivarius", was previously played regularly by Jacqueline du Pré and left to him upon her death. It is currently set up in a Baroque manner, since Ma exclusively plays Baroque music on it. He also owns a cello made by the American luthier firm Moes & Moes, as well as a carbon-fiber cello made by Boston company 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 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.
He currently plays in his own project, The Silk Road Ensemble 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.
Ma has also appeared in an episode of the animated children's television series, Arthur, and the West Wing.
Awards and Recognitions
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
- Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor and F (1986)
- Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Beethoven: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations (1987)
- Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma & Isaac Stern for Brahms: Piano Quartets (Opp. 25 and 26) (1992)
- Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano (1993)
- Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma & Richard Stoltzman for Brahms/Beethoven/Mozart: Clarinet Trios (1996)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
- David Zinman (conductor), Yo-Yo Ma & the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for Barber: Cello Concerto, Op. 22/Britten: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68 (1990)
- Lorin Maazel (conductor), Yo-Yo Ma & the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante/Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme (1993)
- David Zinman (conductor), Yo-Yo Ma & the Baltimore Orchestra for The New York Album - Works of Albert, Bartók & Bloch (1995)
- David Zinman (conductor), Yo-Yo Ma & the Philadelphia Orchestra for Premieres - Cello Concertos (Works of Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse) (1998)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra):
Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition:
- Stephen Albert (composer), David Zinman (conductor) & Yo-Yo Ma for Albert: Cello Concerto (1995)
Grammy Award for Best Classical Album:
- Steven Epstein (producer), David Zinman (conductor), Yo-Yo Ma & the Philadelphia Orchestra for Premieres - Cello Concertos (Works of Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse) (1998)
Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album:
- Jorge Calandrelli (conductor) & Yo-Yo Ma for Soul of the Tango - The Music of Astor Piazzolla (1999)
- Steven Epstein (producer), Richard King (engineer), Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer & Mark O'Connor for Appalachian Journey (2001)
- Jorge Calandrelli (conductor) & Yo-Yo Ma for Obrigado Brazil performed by various artists (2004)
- In 1999 he was awarded the prestigious Glenn Gould Prize.
- On 2005-05-31, Ma was awarded an honorary Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Princeton University.
External link
- Official website (http://www.yo-yoma.com/)de:Yo-Yo Ma