Yo-Yo Ma

He was born to Chinese parents in Paris, and had a musical upbringing. His mother was a singer while his father was a conductor and composer. Ma began to study the violin, then the viola, before taking up the cello. His family moved to New York City, United States when he was seven, where Ma has lived there since.

Ma was a child prodigy, appearing on American television at the age of eight in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. He entered the Juilliard School, and then went to Harvard, but was questioning whether he should continue his studies until he saw Pablo Casals perform in the 1970s.

Since that time, he has become more and more famous, and has performed with most of the world's major orchestras. His recordings and performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's suites for solo cello are particularly acclaimed, and he has also played a good deal of chamber music, often with the pianist Emanuel Ax[?]. One of his cellos, the "Davidov" Stradivarius, was previously played by Jacqueline Du Pre.