Yo-YoMa

WORLD’S GREATEST LIVING CELLIST

ALEXANDER M SMITH Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:48:23 AM ET

 YO-YO MA (PAGE EDITED BY ALEX Y. AND ALEX S.)
"I think that in today's world no one grows up listening to one music. Part of being alive in this world is knowing who
you are and how you fit in the rest of the world. I’m certainly interested in what the rest of the world thinks and feels
and how they want to express themselves in sound." – Yo-Yo Ma

"Every time I open a newspaper, I am reminded that we live in a world where we can no longer afford not to know our
neighbors." – Yo-Yo Ma

CONTENTS

Political, Social, and Economic Chart ....................................................................................

Summary ................................................................................................................................
Timeline ..................................................................................................................................
Embedded Technology ..........................................................................................................
Citations/Bibliography.............................................................................................................

Yo Yo Ma plays his Luis and

Clark Cello, made of carbon
fiber. Page 2

ALEXANDER M SMITH Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:48:23 AM ET

 YO-YO MA
Social, Economic, and Political Chart
SOCIAL
1.Strongly committed to educational
programs that bring young audiences
into the world of music. (Yo-Yo Ma’s
Website)
2.Recently released a new CD
"Songs of Joy and Peace", with the
purpose of celebrating universal and
international hopes, dreams and good
cheer of holidays as they are
celebrated in other cultures. (Yo-Yo
Ma’s Website)
3.Conducts masterclasses and
performances to connect music to
young musicians so that music and
creativity will be a part of their lives
from a young age. (Yo-Yo Ma’s
Website)
4.Part of Ma's worldwide appeal is
his ability to communicate with the
audience warmly and in an engaging
manner when he is performing. (Yo-
Yo Ma’s Website)
5. Attended Harvard University to
obtain a degree in Humanities,
because he felt the diversity there
opened up possibilities not available but later recovered it undamaged).
at a music conservatory. (Yo-Yo
ALEXANDER M SMITH Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:48:23 AM ET
Ma’s Website)
(PAGE EDITED BY ALEX Y. AND ALEX S.)
Yo Yo Ma (right)
performs at the
inauguration
ceremony of
President Barack
Obama.
ECONOMIC
1.Has performed at the World
Economic Forum in 2008, which was
held in Switzerland. (Yo-Yo Ma’s
Website)
2. Regularly performs at charity
events to raise money for community
fundraisers and others in need. (Yo-
Yo Ma’s Website)
3.Yo-Yo Ma has recorded over 75
CD's, 15 of which have won
Grammy awards. (Yo-Yo Ma’s
Website)
4.He collaborated with John
Williams on the original score for the
2005 film Memoirs of a Geisha. (Yo-
Yo Ma’s Website)
5. One of his cello's is worth $2.5
million dollars (he once left it in the
back of a taxicab in New York City,
POLITICAL
1.Yo Yo Ma was named Peace
Ambassador to the United Nations in
2006 by the Secretary Kofi Annan.
(Yo-Yo Ma’s Website)
2. Founded the Silk Road Project, the
mission of which was to bring
together musicians from many
diverse countries. (Yo-Yo Ma’s
Website)
3.Appointed by Barack Obama to
serve on the President's Committee
of Arts and Humanities. (Yo-Yo Ma’s
Website)
4.Appointed a CultureConnect
Ambassador by the U.S. Department
of State, which allowed him to meet
and teach students in other countries.
(Yo-Yo Ma’s Website)
5.Performed at the Inauguration of
President Barack Obama in January
2009. (Yo-Yo Ma’s Website)
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Summary of Accomplishments
Music In The Eyes of Yo-Yo Ma:
Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole,
flows from heaven to the soul. Yo-Yo Ma, a French-born American cellist, brought this generic definition of music
to whole new level. His frequent collaborations with musicians and artists from other genres and media
reinvigorated classical music and expanded its audience. Ma believes that music is a way to express oneself,
finding their identity in a very diverse world, “I think that in today’s world no one grows up listening to one music.
Part of being alive in this world is knowing who you are and how you fit in the rest of the world. I’m certainly
interested in what the rest of the world thinks and feels and how they want to express themselves in sound.”(The
Silk Road Project)

Early Life: The Birth of a Musical Prodigy

Yo-Yo Ma was considered a musical prodigy, in other words, a musical genius. His father, Hiao-Tsuin Ma,
recognized his son’s talent and started him immediately on his musical career as a cellist. Yo-Yo was expected to
memorize two measures of the Six Bach Suites for the Unaccompanied Cello each day.(Worth 9) Little did he
know that the music he was memorizing would later win him a Grammy Award. Ma made his first debut in the
prestigious Carnegie Hall in 1971, performing the Bach suites.(Worth 37) In 1985, he won his first Grammy award
from his recordings of the Six Unaccompanied Bach Cello Suites, which have the reputation as one of the most
difficult, but beautiful pieces of music ever composed for the cello. In total, Yo-Yo Ma has won sixteen total
Grammy Awards, his latest being from his new album, “songs for peace and joy”. Out of 75 of his albums, 15 of
them are Grammy Award Winners.

Transformation of Music:
Yo-Yo Ma transformed music and brought music to a completely new level that was not yet discovered. Ma's
versatility among music genres and his large repertoire separate him from many other cellists. Yo-Yo Ma brought
music to a new level by being able to express the emotions and feelings that the composer was trying to send out
through the music being performed. From the first movement of suite no. 1 of the Bach suites, Yo-Yo Ma describes
the prelude to open "like light becoming stronger," and the he feels that he is out in nature while playing it.(Worth
9) Suite No. 3 is considered "the most popular of all," according to David Blum. Ma interprets this suite to be
"noble and exuberant." Suite No. 4, for Ma, is " the most profound of all the suites.(Worth 11) It expresses the
sadness felt be the composer. In conclusion of the Six Suites for Cello composed by Bach, Suite No. 6 "is exalted,
and celebrates the glory of life."(Worth 11) When Yo-Yo Ma performs, he is absorbed into the music he is playing
and through his body language, he is able to vividly portray the emotions of the song being performed.

The Silk Road Project and Yo-Yo Ma's Grand Goal as a Musician
Notified as a child prodigy, Yo-Yo Ma made a shocking decision to expand his education at Harvard University,
majoring in humanities. After graduating Harvard University in 1976, Ma felt the growing desire to unite cultures
all over the world.(The Silk Road Project) By 1998, Yo-Yo Ma established the Silk Road Project to promote his
goal of uniting cultures over the world, “Every time I open a newspaper, I am reminded that we live in a world
where we can no longer afford not to know our neighbors.” He wanted to expand the exploration of music as
means of communication as a vessel for the migrations of ideas across a range of cultures throughout the world,
and through the Silk Road Project, he was able to accomplish his goal.(The Silk Road Project)

To Conclude:
Yo-Yo Ma is respected as one of the finest cellists all over the world. His collaborations with other musicians
enabled him to reinvigorate classical music and expand its audience greatly. Ma acknowledges that having
versatility within foreign music genres make a musician that much better. Not only was Yo-Yo Ma a very
accomplished cellist through his many Grammy Awards, he also was a man he sought to unify different cultures

together. Through the Silk Road Project, Yo-Yo Ma was able to do so, gathering musicians all over the worldPage to 4
collaborate together and perform.
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Timeline and Citations/Bibliography

Bibliography/Citations: Websites and Books

Worth, Richard. Yo-Yo Ma. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print.

The Silk Road Project Inc. "Yo-Yo Ma." The Silkroad Project. N.p., 2010. Web. 28
Feb. 2010. <http://www.silkroadproject.org/MusicArtists/SilkRoadEnsemble/
PerformersComposersTabbed/YoYoMa/tabid/197/Default.aspx>.

The Silk Road Project Inc. "The Silk Road Project: Mission and Vision." The Silk
Road Project. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.silkroadproject.org/AboutUs/MissionVision/tabid/195/
Default.aspx>.

"Biography." The Official Yo-Yo Ma Site. Sony Music Entertainment, 2010. Web. 7
     Mar. 2010. <http://www.yo-yoma.com/yo-yo-ma-biography>.

Whiting, Jim. Yo-Yo Ma, A Biography. Westport, Conneticut: Greenwood Press ,

2008. Print.

Attanas, John. Yo-Yo Ma: A Life in Music. New York: John Gordon Burke Publishing
     , 2003. Print.

Audio Source:

Ma, Yo-Yo. "Suite No. 3 for Violoncello Solo in C Major BWV 1009." Bach: The
     Cello Suites. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, 1997. MP3 file.

Pictures:

AP Images. The Associated Press, 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2010.

     <http://www.apimages.com>.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/08/03/inside_the_box/

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01245/inauguration_music_1245705c.jpg

http://www.silkroadproject.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Images/DSC_7293_3_Resize.jpg

http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/carbon-fiber-cellos_1.jpg

http://ucommxsrv1.unl.edu/downloadables/photo/20090403ma2.jpg

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