Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born to and partial… Read Full Bio ↴Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born to and partially raised by Chinese 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. 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, 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. He was named as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Aside from English, Ma is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and French.

Ma's primary performance instrument is the Davidov cello, made in 1712 by Antonio Stradivari

Ma's mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a violinist, composer and professor of music at Nanjing National Central University (now relocated in Taoyuan, Taiwan; predecessor of the present-day Nanjing University and Southeast University). They both migrated from the Republic of China to France during the Chinese Civil War. Ma's sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, played the violin and piano professionally before obtaining a medical degree from Harvard and becoming a pediatrician. The family moved to New York City when Ma was seven.

From the age of three, Ma played the drums, violin, piano, and later viola, but settled on the cello in 1960 at age four. When three-year-old Yo-Yo said he wanted a big instrument, his father went to see Etienne Vatelot, a foremost violin maker in Paris who, after a chat, lent him a 1/16th cello. He jokes that his first choice was the double bass due to its large size, but he compromised and took up the cello instead. When his father realized that Yo-Yo was ready for a better teacher, a well-known cello instructor, Mme Michelle Lepinte, was selected. He began performing before audiences at age five and played for presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy when he was seven. At age eight, he appeared on American television with his sister in an event introduced by Leonard Bernstein. In 1964, Isaac Stern introduced them on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and they performed the Sonata of Sammartini. He attended Trinity School in New York but transferred to the Professional Children's School, where he graduated at age 15. He appeared as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations.

Ma studied at the Juilliard School at age 19 with Leonard Rose and attended Columbia University, but dropped out. He later enrolled at Harvard College. Prior to entering Harvard, Ma played in the Marlboro Festival Orchestra under the direction of cellist, conductor and Ma’s childhood hero Pablo Casals. He spent four summers at the Marlboro Music Festival after meeting and falling in love with Mount Holyoke College sophomore and festival administrator Jill Hornor during his first summer there in 1972.

Even before that time, Ma gained fame and performed with many of the world's major orchestras. He has also played chamber music, often with pianist Emanuel Ax, with whom he has a close friendship from their days at Juilliard. Ma received his bachelor's degree in anthropology from Harvard in 1976, and in 1991 received an honorary doctorate from Harvard.

Yo-Yo Ma has been referred to by critics as "omnivorous" and possesses an eclectic repertoire. In addition to numerous recordings of the standard classical repertoire, he has recorded Baroque pieces using period instruments; American bluegrass music; traditional Chinese melodies, including the soundtrack to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; the tangos of Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla; Brazilian music, recording traditional and contemporary songs composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Pixinguinha; a collaboration with Bobby McFerrin (where Ma admitted to being terrified by McFerrin's improvisation); and the music of modern minimalist Philip Glass, in such works as the 2002 Naqoyqatsi.

Ma is known for his smooth, rich tone, soulful lyricism, and virtuosity. He released a cello recording of Niccolò Paganini's Caprice No. 24 for solo violin and Zoltán Kodály's Solo Sonata.

On May 1, 2019, he performed at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert. He said that his interest in astronomy motivated him to visit and perform there.

Ma's albums include recordings of cello concertos, sonatas for cello and piano, works for solo cello, and a variety of chamber music. He has also recorded in non-classical styles, notably in collaboration with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Carlos Santana, Chris Botti, Chris Thile, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Miley Cyrus and Sting.

Kuai Le
Yo-Yo Ma Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

突然把房间好好整理
答应朋友的局出门去
喔还可以还过得去
不敢再听的那些歌曲
慢慢解开了封印
要适应没有你
想念有点夸张有种感伤
我试着不抵抗

藏进心里的话
不能分享不该张扬
有点慌张有种倔强
我不想再沮丧
请赐我一个好方法
能快乐地想你
也是种安慰
像朋友般面对你
这样的距离行不行
突然把房间好好整理
答应朋友的局出门去
喔还可以还过得去
不敢再听的那些歌曲
慢慢解开了封印
要适应没有你
想念有点夸张有种感伤
我试着不抵抗
藏进心里的话
不能分享不该张扬
有点慌张有种倔强
我不想再沮丧
请赐我一个好方法
能快乐地想你
也是种安慰
像朋友般面对你
这样的距离行不行

突然把房间好好整理
答应朋友的局出门去
喔还可以还过得去
不敢再听的那些歌曲
慢慢解开了封印
哦要适应
哦没有你
快乐地想你

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Yo-Yo Ma's song "Kuai Le" (translated as "Happy") speak about the process of moving on from a past relationship. The singer describes suddenly cleaning up their room and agreeing to go out with friends, implying a newfound motivation to leave the past behind. They mention that they no longer dare to listen to certain songs, as they are filled with memories and emotions tied to the relationship. Seeking to adapt to the absence of their partner, they confess to feeling a bit exaggerated in their longing and sentimental feelings. The singer tries not to resist these emotions, keeping their hidden thoughts and unshared feelings to themselves. Despite feeling a bit anxious and stubborn, they express their desire not to be sad anymore and hope for a way to think of their past partner happily. They see this as a form of comfort, similar to how friends face each other, and question if this distance between them is bearable.

In summary, the lyrics of "Kuai Le" reflect the singer's struggle to move forward from a past relationship, trying to adjust to life without their partner while acknowledging the intensity of their emotions and longing. They seek solace in finding a way to remember their past partner with happiness and learn to face the distance between them.

Line by Line Meaning

突然把房间好好整理
Suddenly tidy up the room properly

答应朋友的局出门去
Keep the promise to go out with friends

喔还可以还过得去
Oh, it's still bearable

不敢再听的那些歌曲
The songs I dare not listen to anymore

慢慢解开了封印
Slowly breaking the seal

要适应没有你
I need to adapt to life without you

想念有点夸张有种感伤
I miss you, it's a bit exaggerated, there's a sense of melancholy

我试着不抵抗
I try not to resist

藏进心里的话
Words hidden in my heart

不能分享不该张扬
I can't share, it shouldn't be boasted

有点慌张有种倔强
A little anxious, there's a kind of stubbornness