The character arc of Yo-Yo Ma
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 7 October 1955 in Paris to Chinese parents, a singer and a violinist and composer. Between then and now sit drums, violin and piano tried before he settled on the cello at four, a quarter-size instrument lent by a Paris maker, a first audience at five, a move to Boston at seven, cello studies at the Juilliard School, a liberal arts degree at Harvard rather than a conservatoire, more than ninety two albums, twenty Grammy Awards, a United Nations role from 2006, and a long list of national honours. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Yo-Yo Ma?
He wanted a big instrument, and got the whole world.
His mother was a singer and his father a violinist, composer and professor of music, and both had left China for France. He played drums, violin and piano, and later viola, before settling on the cello in 1960, at four. The story the record keeps is that at three he said he wanted a big instrument, and his father went to see one of the foremost violin makers in Paris, who after a conversation lent the boy a cello a sixteenth of the usual size. He has joked that his first choice was the double bass, for the size, and that the cello was the compromise.
He began performing in front of audiences at five and played for two American presidents at seven. The family moved to Boston when he was seven, and then to New York, where he studied the cello at the Juilliard School. What he did next is the decision on this line: rather than continue in a conservatoire, he went to Harvard and took a liberal arts degree, which is to say he went and studied everything else.
That choice is audible in the whole career. He has recorded more than ninety two albums and won twenty Grammy Awards, and alongside the standard classical repertoire he has recorded American bluegrass, traditional Chinese melodies, Argentine tango and Brazilian music, and worked with singers, guitarists and percussionists from almost every genre there is. He has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006. The honours run from a prize in 1978 through a national medal of arts in 2001, a presidential medal and a lifetime honour in 2011, and further prizes in 2012 and 2022, and he was named to the Time 100 in 2020. His main instrument was made in 1712.
The moments
Yo-Yo Ma's timeline.
The 1950s
Born in Paris
Everyday. Two musicians for parents, and a sister who played too.
A big instrument, please
Milestone, and it changed everything. He asked for something big and they lent him something tiny.
The 1960s
A first audience at five
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Five years old, and already playing to a room.
Playing for presidents at seven
Milestone, and it changed everything. Seven years old, and two presidents had heard him play.
Juilliard
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The best conservatoire in the country, and he was a child in it.
The 1970s
Harvard, not the conservatoire
Milestone, and it changed everything. He stopped specialising, on purpose, at the point where specialising was working.
Conservatoire, or everything else
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: go and study everything, taken, or stay a specialist. He has since recorded bluegrass, Chinese folk music, tango and Brazilian music alongside the classical repertoire.
The Avery Fisher Prize
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The prize that says a young soloist has arrived.
The 1990s
Bluegrass, tango, and China
Milestone, and it changed everything. A classical soloist who kept turning up in other people's music.
The Glenn Gould Prize
Milestone. Two of the biggest honours in music, two years apart.
The 2000s
A Messenger of Peace
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The cello, used as a passport.
The 2010s
A presidential medal
Milestone, and it changed everything. The highest honour his country gives a civilian.
The 2020s
Ninety two albums
Milestone, and it changed everything. Ninety two records, twenty Grammys, and one cello from 1712.
A cello from 1712 is still the instrument, and he still plays with anybody who asks. What it has set moving is the argument he has made by doing it for seventy years: that there is no such thing as somebody else's music, and that a classical soloist who learns a tango or a bluegrass tune has lost nothing at all.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His could have stayed in the conservatoire and went and studied everything else instead. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Yo-Yo Ma: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Yo-Yo Ma's character arc?
How did Yo-Yo Ma start playing the cello?
Did Yo-Yo Ma go to a conservatoire?
What kinds of music has Yo-Yo Ma recorded?
How many Grammys has Yo-Yo Ma won?
What cello does Yo-Yo Ma play?
Where does this timeline of Yo-Yo Ma's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Yo-Yo Ma, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Britannica, biography of Yo-Yo Ma.
- Recording Academy records for twenty Grammy Awards.