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.

So in Love
Yo-Yo Ma Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I hear the shots outside its funny how it smells
I'd take one for the chance to break out of this shell
Who knew that I'd need
A full-blown revolution
For me to see that
Love wont come if you don't

ooo.. Turn your head and smile

ooo.. Everything’s on fire

I know that I haven't met you
But you've got me anxious
For something other than these
Pots and pans and master plans.

ooo.. Turn your head and smile
ooo.. Everything’s on fire

All these pictures in my head
When I want em I don’t get em
Don’t be sorry it’s so funny
All these pictures they're so funny

I know that I shouldn't be
Laughing at a funeral
But drastic times call for drastic measures
All is fair in love and war

ooo.. Turn your head and smile
ooo.. Everything’s on fire

Overall Meaning

The song "So in Love" by Yo-Yo Ma is a complex expression of various emotions that come together to form a story. The first line of the lyric talks about hearing the shots, which refers to the unrest and conflict present in the world. Despite this, the singer is willing to take a shot or risk for a chance to break out of their shell. The following lines express the idea that a full-blown revolution is required to see that love won't come if one doesn't take risks. The next part of the lyric follows a pattern of "turn your head and smile" and "everything's on fire" to convey the conflict and the paradox of experiencing such emotions while trying to maintain optimism.

The third stanza speaks of the singer's desire for something other than their current situation, which is filled with mundane tasks and plans. The following section contains the line "all these pictures in my head, when I want them, I don't get them," which is a metaphor for the frustrating experience of not achieving desired goals. The final section talks about laughing at a funeral, which is a metaphor for the absurdity of life and the fact that, in a world of drastic measures, all is fair in love and war.

Overall, the lyrics of "So in Love" by Yo-Yo Ma express different emotions such as conflict, risk-taking, desire, paradox, frustration, and absurdity. The song tells a story about how these emotions combine to form an intricate and complex human experience.

Line by Line Meaning

I hear the shots outside its funny how it smells
Despite the chaos and violence surrounding me, there is still a strange sense of humor in the air.

I'd take one for the chance to break out of this shell
I am so desperate to escape my current situation that I would risk my life for any opportunity to break free.

So in LoveYo-Yo Ma Lyrics

So in Love
Yo-Yo Ma Lyrics