Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma is a cellist whose career spans the classical repertoire and a long series of collaborations across musical traditions.

Ma was born in Paris in 1955 to Chinese parents and moved with his family to the United States as a child. He studied at the Juilliard School and later graduated from Harvard University.

Ma has performed as a soloist with orchestras worldwide and recorded an extensive discography, including multiple recordings of Bach's suites for unaccompanied cello. In 1998 he founded Silkroad, an ensemble and organisation bringing together musicians from many traditions.

Recordings of the Bach Cello Suites, Appalachia Waltz with Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, and the Silkroad Ensemble projects.

Winner of numerous Grammy Awards, he received the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010.