Mini Page Hero: Yo-Yo Ma
Mini Quote: “I just want to take music to wherever it can go, to people who are open.” — Yo-Yo Ma
Music. It’s almost everywhere. You dance to it, march to it, worship with it, celebrate with it . . . and many of you make it — you are musicians. Meet one of the world’s greatest musicians — Yo-Yo Ma.
An early start
Can you remember what you were doing when you were 5 years old? Yo-Yo Ma was giving his first public cello recital. A cello is a stringed instrument, larger than a violin but smaller than a string bass.
Yo-Yo Ma has become a worldfamous ambassador for classical music. (An ambassador is someone who spreads a message.) He travels all over the world and plays with great orchestras and other famous musicians. He has made more than 90 albums. Eighteen of them have been honored with Grammy awards.
Reaching out with music
Yo-Yo Ma is always trying to find new and different ways to reach more people with classical music. In the early 1990s, he joined Bobby McFerrin for an unusual performance in Boston. McFerrin is a jazz musician who uses his voice as an instrument. The pair teamed up with the Boston Philharmonic and put together a concert of all kinds of music — classical, fun, mournful and lighthearted.
Yo-Yo Ma does not think classical music is just for grown-ups. He has taken his cello to “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Whenever he goes on a concert tour, he schedules time to teach students, both musicians and nonmusicians.
Sharing with the world
He also encourages young people to create music, and he teaches them how. He has been known to share his instruments with them.
The cellos that Ma plays are very valuable, worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars. But on more than one occasion, he has invited young cello students to experience the thrill of playing one of his practically priceless instruments.
This is what Yo-Yo Ma does. He loves music so much that he wants to share it with the world.