Yo-Yo Ma
The prolific and prodigiously talented cellist Yo-Yo Ma is as at home with
Brahms and Bach as he is with Astor Piazzolla or Antonio Carlos Jobim. Like
many virtuosos, Ma took up the cello early; his father started him on the
instrument at age four. Decades and several degrees later (he was a star
pupil at Juilliard and later graduated from Harvard), Ma is the face of
classical music around the world. Everyone knows the ubiquitous cello player
with the improbable, happy-go-lucky name. But it's not just his name that
precedes him: Ma is a musical omnivore. He's taken the cello from its stuffy
classical confines and forced it into places it's never been before. Cello
in bluegrass? Middle Eastern music? Tango? Bossa nova? No style is too out
there for Ma, and as a result he's become a musical ambassador, finding
commonalities between disparate musical traditions and introducing a
generally uncurious world to the world's many musical curiosities. From
2000's Appalachian Journey and 2002's Silk Road Journeys to 2003's Obrigado Brasil, the cellist's passion for music has inspired several generations of listeners.
