October Artist of the Month - Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, composer, pedagogue was born on October 7, 1955 in Paris to Chinese parents.

As a child prodigy, he began performing at the age of five, and performed for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was seven. At age eight, he and his sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma appeared on American television in a concert conducted by leonard Bernstein.

Ma currently plays with his own Silk Road Ensemble. Ma's principal instrument is the cello nicknamed Petunia, built by Domenico Montagnana in 1733. This cello is more than 270 years old and valued at US$2.5 million.

In 1997 he was featured on John Williams' soundtrack to the Hollywood film, Seven Years in Tibet. In 2000, he was heard on the soundtrack of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and in 2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. He also has over 75 albums, 15 of which are Grammy Award winners.

Ma was named Peace Ambassador in January 2006. On November 3, 2009, President Obama appointed Ma to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Ma performed a duet with Condoleezza Rice at the presentation of the 2001 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal Awards. Ma was the first performer on September 11, 2002, at the site of the World Trade Ceter. He performed a special arrangement of Sting's "Fragile" during the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in salt Lake City, Utah.

He performed John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" at the inauguration ceremony fro Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, along with Itzhak Perman, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill. On August 29, 2009, Ma performed at the funeral mass for Senator Edward M. Kennedy.