Yo-Yo Ma 馬友友 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Paris, France | 7 October 1955||||||||||||||||||||||
Genres | See article | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Musician | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Instrument | Cello | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Years active | 1961–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Labels | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of | Silk Road Ensemble | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | yo-yoma | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 馬友友 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 马友友 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Yo-Yo Ma[a] (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist.[1] Born to and partially raised by Chinese[2] parents in Paris and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University, attended Columbia University, and has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He has 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, and Sting.
Ma has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006.[3] 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,[4] 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.[5] He was named as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[6]
Ma's primary performance instrument is the Davidov cello, made in 1712 by Antonio Stradivari.[7]
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