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ROB FIR TUNATO
JIMMY ASNES
JIMM Y ASNES
JIMM Y ASNES
Clockwise, from top left, Yo-Yo Ma with
friends James Taylor, John Clayton and
Diana Krall, Renée Fleming and Chris Botti
who join him on his new Christmas CD.
There’s always
room for cello
Yo-
ate countermelodies and variations and
upload them. Site users will vote on the entries
and Ma will select a winner from fan favorites
to record with him.
Ma sees music as more than an art form.
“We have so many places in the world that
have such complex and rich demographics,”
he observes. “It’s kind of a neat thing to have
different ways to bring people together.”
By Steve Fisher
IF YOU THINK OF YO-YO MA as strictly a
classical musician, you don’t know Ma.
As a man and an artist, Yo-Yo Ma defies
definition. Born in Paris to Chinese parents,
raised for most of his early years in New York
City, Ma was a child prodigy who first played
the cello at age 4. Now, with millions of CDs
sold, plus accolades and awards galore, one
might expect Ma, a Costco member in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be the stereo-typical classical genius with an aloof air and
serious nature. Quite the opposite. The 52-year-
old musician is warm, engaging and jovial,
and has the energy of a man half his age.
“Cello is not great for your body,” he
states. “I have to stay in shape.” But he also
remains philosophical. “If you’re over 40,” he
muses, “and you get up in the morning and
nothing hurts, you must be dead.” Ma punctuates the statement with laughter, adding,
“So take all those aches and pains as a sign of
joy, of living.”
This is quintessential Ma—accentuating
the positive and spreading joy. Which explains
his new album, Songs of Joy and Peace. “I
fought hard for that title,” he says. It was originally to be Songs of Joy, but Ma asks, “How
can you have joy without peace?”
MICHAEL O‘NEIL
Meeting of musical minds
In creating his new CD, it was Ma’s intent
to have a musical holiday gathering, a virtual
living room. “This started with who you
would want to have at your musical party,” he
recalls. He invited old and new friends—
including Dave Brubeck, Renée Fleming,
James Taylor, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss,
Chris Botti and others—to join him on tracks
that evoke the feeling of a friendly, and joyous, jam session.
The mixture of styles and genres is natural to him. “The best musicians are all thinking along the same lines,” he explains.
“Ultimately you have to have organizational
principles.” He adds, “Nobody listens to just
one kind of music these days. I don’t.”
To celebrate the new CD, and to spread
the spirit of collaboration, Ma is inviting all
musicians to “push the boundaries of music
creation.” He has recorded the melody “Dona
Nobis Pacem” (Latin for “Give us peace”) and
is making it available on IndabaMusic.com—a
social networking site for musicians (
according to the Web site, indaba is a Zulu word that
“invokes the spirit of collaboration and
community”)—as well as on his Web site,
www.yo-yoma.com. Artists will be able to cre-
Spreading the message
Ma has been bringing people together
with the Silk Road Project, the nonprofit arts,
cultural and educational organization he
founded in 1998. Ma serves as its artistic
director. The project’s goal is to connect the
world’s neighborhoods by bringing together
artists and audiences around the globe.
“Nothing beats the personal relationship,” he
notes. “If you see someone physically, in person, there are so many more layers you can
take in. So many things I’ve learned in life
have come from unexpected places.”
Ma’s passion for connecting people is
evident and one reason he has been
appointed a CultureConnect ambassador by
the U.S. Department of State and a U.N.
peace ambassador.
“This is the 60th anniversary of the
Human Rights Treaty [the United Nations’
affirmation of the rights of all people]. Dignity
and justice for us all,” he says. “I’m going to
say it, I’m going to practice it, because it takes
all of us to get there.”
And Yo-Yo Ma is using music to lead the
way to joy and peace. C
The Costco Connection
Yo-Yo Ma’s Songs of Joy and Peace is available at Costco warehouses and comes with
an exclusive cello ornament.
