Yo-Yo Ma

The cellist Yo-Yo Ma, born in Paris in 1955 to Chinese parents, received his first cello lessons from his father at the age of four. In 1962, the family moved to New York City, where he continued his musical training first with János Scholz and later with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School of Music. He graduated from Harvard University in 1976. Yo-Yo Ma appeared as a soloist under the direction of Leonard Bernstein when he was only eight years old; since the late 1970s, he has performed regularly with the world’s leading orchestras. Alongside his interpretations of the major cello concertos, he has long been deeply committed to chamber music. His extensive discography comprises some 120 recordings and ranges from Bach’s solo suites through Beethoven and Brahms to tango and film music. His recordings have garnered no fewer than 19 Grammy Awards. A central concern of his artistic practice is a commitment to fostering trust in the power of culture, building connections across borders, and strengthening our shared humanity. It was in this spirit that, in 1998, he founded the Silkroad Project, which is dedicated to exploring and preserving the cultural heritage of the historic Silk Road. More recently, he launched the initiative “Our Common Nature,” which has taken him to 36 locations across every continent, combining Bach’s solo suites with music from each region and culture. In 2006, Yo-Yo Ma was appointed a UN Messenger of Peace. He serves on the board of the World Economic Forum in Davos and is a board member of Nia Tero, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization working with Indigenous communities and advocacy movements worldwide. His many honors include the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2010), the Polar Music Prize (2012), the Praemium Imperiale (2021), and the Birgit Nilsson Prize (2022). Yo-Yo Ma performs on a Montagnana cello built in 1733, the “Davidoff” Stradivarius from 1712, and an instrument by Moes & Moes from 2003.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 31 August 1978 in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan.

April 2026