Musician of the Week
Yo-Yo Ma

Monday
Listening Example:  "Bach's Suite No. 1 in G Major"

Yo Yo Ma is a world renowned cellist who has played since the age of four.  He has studied in the most prestigious schools, taught children and adults about music, and is even a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Yo Yo Ma was born in Paris, France on October 7, 1955.  His parents were both musicians.  In fact, his mother was a singer, and his father was a professor of music.  
From the earliest possible age, Ma played the violin, piano and later viola, but settled on cello in 1960 at age four. 

Today’s listening example is “Suite No. 1 in G Major” written by Bach.  It seems this song is Ma’s most favorite song to play.  On Friday, we will learn about a garden he designed that was inspired by this song.

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Tuesday
Listening Example:  1962 Performance at "The American Pageant of the Arts"

We have learned about many child prodigies in the past.  A child prodigy is someone under the age of ten who is able to do, or know, something at an adult level.  It is no surprise that Yo Yo Ma was a child prodigy.
Ma’s talent was so great that, by the age of four and a half, he was performing for audiences!  At the age of 7, he performed for presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

Leonard Bernstein had Yo Yo Ma perform on his weekly show that taught children about music.  Ma was only 8 years old at the time.

Today’s listening example is Ma’s performance at a benefit concert called "The American Pageant of the Arts" on November 29, 1962. In this video, he is introduced by Leonard Bernstein. One biographer wrote of this event, "the article was noteworthy in two respects. First, it included Yo-Yo's name in the same sentence as those of two U.S. presidents and eight world-famous performers and writers. Second, Yo-Yo had been identified in a major newspaper for the first time. It would hardly be the last. In the years since then, the New York Times alone has written about him more than 1,000 times."

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Wednesday
Listening Example:  "Here Comes the Sun"

Yo Yo Ma studied at the Juilliard School, in New York at the age of 19.  The Juilliard School is the best music school in the country, maybe even the world.

Later, Ma enrolled at Harvard University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1976.  He was later given an honorary doctorate from Harvard in 1991.  

During his summer break from school, Ma would perform at the Marlboro Music Festival.  The Marlboro Music School and Festival was a 7 week “camp” for classical training and musicianship, located in Marlboro, Vermont.

In 2015, Yo-Yo Ma worked with James Taylor.  James Taylor is a legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist.  They worked together on two songs for James’ chart topping record “Before this World”.  Today’s listening example is from the record.  It is a song titled “Here Comes the Sun”.  If you’ve ever heard the original version of this song, you will noticed the tempo, or speed, of the song is much slower.  

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Thursday
Listening Example:  "Sayuri's Theme" from "Memoirs of a Geisha"

John Williams is one of our favorite Musicians of the Week.  You’ll remember he is the man that wrote the music for Star Wars, ET, and many other of your favorite movies.  
In 1997, John Williams asked Yo-Yo Ma to collaborate with him on the soundtrack to the movie “Seven Years in Tibet.

Ma also has over 90 albums, 18 of which are Grammy Award winners. He is a recipient of the International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.  

In 2005, Ma once again worked with John Williams on the soundtrack for the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha”.  

Today’s listening example is “Sayuri’s Theme” from “Memoirs of a Geisha”.  In this video you will see John Williams accompanying  Yo-Yo Ma on the piano.  To accompany someone is to play with, or for, them, as they perform.  

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Friday
Listening Example:  Yo-Yo Ma's Compassion

Yo-Yo Ma plays beautiful music, but did you know he also designed a whole garden inspired by that beautiful music?  In 1999, Ma worked with landscape artists to design a Bach inspired garden.  Each section of the garden fits the dance movements from Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major that we heard on Monday.

In January of 2006, Ma was named Peace Ambassador for the United Nations.  He is a founding member of the influential Chinese-American Committee of 100, which addresses the concerns of Americans of Chinese heritage.

On November 3, 2009, President Obama appointed Ma to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.   In 2010, President Obama announced that he would be recognizing Ma with the Presidential Medal of Freedom; Ma was presented with the award at the ceremonies in February 2011.

Today’s listening example is not only an example of beautiful music, but an example of being a good human.  In this video, Yo-Yo Ma gives an impromptu performance in a vaccine waiting room in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, after having just received his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. He performs Ave Maria and the prelude to Bach's Cello Suite No 1 to the small number of patients waiting to receive the dose. Ma, who played for about 15 minutes, is a part-time resident of the area and wanted to 'give something back' to his community, according to a local paper, the Berkshire Eagle.

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References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Yo_Ma
https://www.yo-yoma.com/