Creators need to be buried under the deep sea with the help of the philosophical spirit and world outlook conveyed by music, while musicians act as good or bad translators between creators and listeners.
"When I get a piece of music, I will habitually ask what is the history behind it, or whether the music is the intention written by the creator. With these things, you can understand the different emotional levels in music. Otherwise, the player is an object that makes the instrument sound, a craftsman, and will never become a musician. "
"China culture's interpretation of music is very special, which reflects the great influence of music on people in the spiritual field. This is also my view on music. In music, sound is energy, and energy is like contact. We all know how important contact is to cure. Even if a person can't talk, you can shake hands with him and comfort him. If he can't speak, he can't express himself You can talk to him in a gentle voice, just like talking to an old man, a patient or a newborn. Your voice and your contact will be given to him. Now many people are talking about the healing effect of music on people. I think music can not only bring spiritual comfort, but also play a therapeutic role. "
Yo-Yo Ma, 1955 10 7, was born in a China immigrant family, and his ancestral home was in Ningbo, Zhejiang. My mother loves singing and my father went to France to study children's music education.
My father Ma Xiaojun was the first musician to study in the West during the Republic of China. Graduated from Ma Sicong, majoring in violin, and also a composer and conductor. His mother Lu is a female singer and graduated from the Art Department of Central University.
Yo-Yo Ma has lived in the music industry since he was a child. He listened to thousands of excerpts of classical music and learned about the world through records or the performances of his father and sister.
Yo-Yo Ma: "My mother is a singer and my father is a composer, a music theorist and a string player. My father gave me good music training. At first, I played Bach's suite. At first, it was just a clip, two bars a day.
Linking what you learn every day, you actually learn a lot unconsciously. A little at a time, this is a very good way to learn. We don't need to climb Mount Everest at once, we just need to conquer a small hill.
Father often said that if something is difficult, you should divide it into four parts first, so that you can solve some small problems first, bit by bit, and finally solve the most difficult part. This is a very good method. My mother advised me to practice more skills, practice makes perfect, and quantitative change leads to qualitative change. "
From 65438 to 0959, 4-year-old Yo-Yo Ma began to learn piano and cello.
"Cello was my third musical choice when I was four years old. My first musical instrument was the violin, but I couldn't play it well, so I refused to continue my study. I wanted to play the double bass when I was four, but it was too big. When I was four and a half years old, I chose the cello because it was the other biggest instrument I could control. "
1962, 7-year-old Yo-Yo Ma and his family moved to new york, USA. In the same year, he and his sister Yo-Yo Ma performed on the stage of Kennedy Center in Carnegie Hall, USA, with an audience of 5,000 people, including President Kennedy and his wife.
At the age of 8, he began to appear in the national TV program of CBS as a "prodigy", and the conductor was the famous Bernstein.
Mama Lu: "Yo-Yo likes music very much. If he likes the music, he can't hear you. He is deaf and can't hear the sound outside. His spirit is totally focused on music. He liked Schubert and Haydn since he was a child, and he was reluctant to let go when he practiced. "
"My husband is an educator and he is very persuasive. He won't let his friends practice for too long at a time, only 15 minutes, so that he can concentrate on practicing, because children are naughty and inattentive, and attention is more important than time. "
Yo-yo Ma was tired of practicing the piano when he was a child. When he was a "rebellious teenager", he deliberately opened the lid of the piano to get the cello wet.
Mother Lu: "My husband never spanks his children because of music, nor does he let them be punished because of music, for fear of leaving a shadow in their hearts. If you want your child to be a musician in the future, don't leave a shadow in his heart. At other times, children who are disobedient and naughty can be spanked. But if the music doesn't pass, his father won't beat him, but' punish' him for writing Chinese characters and Chinese characters. However, Youyou has always been happy to learn and pass, and there is no need for punishment. "
1969, 14 years old, he graduated from high school and entered Juilliard, where he worked as a cellist Leonardo. Ross is studying under the door.
Young and famous, rebellious Yo-Yo Ma lost his attachment to music and began to skip classes, smoke and drink ... By chance, he met Jill at the party, a girl who had seen Yo-Yo Ma's performance at the age of 14.
At that time, he made a bet with others that he wanted two NBA tickets and a takeaway seafood pizza to get Jill's kiss.
Jill told Yo-Yo Ma that she came to new york to find a boy who plays the cello. On her 14 birthday, she once saw a concert by a talented cello boy in Vienna. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from that boy since I came to America. The boy that Jill said is him.
Yo-Yo Ma won the plane ticket and pizza that night, but Jill left Yo-Yo Ma after learning the truth.
Ma's mother said, "It was his first love. He suffered for a long time, and even once asked me,' Is there any way to make time to go back?' I told him no, but we can rewrite the future. "
So after studying at Juilliard for seven years, Yo-Yo Ma dropped out of school and went to Harvard University to major in anthropology.
Yo-Yo Ma: "I may not learn different things at Juilliard, but I met some very interesting people at Harvard. They talk about music outside musical instruments, while people at Juilliard always talk about music inside musical instruments-this is very different. If people always think from their own behavior, they will develop more in physical behavior.
There are many people like Leon Kirchner in Harvard University, and there are also excellent teachers-Lois Vosgay Lacien, a really great teacher, who always asks questions with Socrates' question-and-answer method. On the basis of establishing basic vocabulary, she teaches people how to think and how to trust their own ability and listening. Once you start to have confidence, you can apply the complete vocabulary you have learned to music, which is extremely useful. "
Yo-Yo Ma and Jill met again at Harvard University. He wrote a love letter to Jill:
"After you left me, love and music seemed to disappear from my life. I have given up cello for almost four years, and now I don't know if I can play the piano. Last night, I hesitated all night, trying to do something for you to make up for my previous absurdity and frivolous. I want to give you a recital. "
After the recital, Yo-Yo Ma and Jill fell in love and picked up the abandoned piano skills. Yo-Yo Ma said that Jill was the most beautiful and intelligent woman in her life. They are strings and bows on the cello, and no one can live without them.
1976 Yo-Yo Ma graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in anthropology.
1977, Yo-Yo Ma and his girlfriend Jill? Hanauer got married and had two children.
Yo-Yo Ma: "The most important moment is to get married and have children. Since then, my attitude towards time, life and death has completely changed. Suddenly everything is true, you can't wander around anymore, you must take responsibility. "
"As parents, my wife and I hope that music is an element that enriches our lives and those of our children. To our delight, music has become a part of children's life and their exploration of life. We never thought that they would choose music as their career. The only thing we want to teach them is the values we cherish. "
198 1 year, Apple founder Steve Jobs met Yo-Yo Ma who was attending the Aspen International Design Conference, and Yo-Yo Ma was attending the Aspen Music Festival.
Jobs was moved by Yo-Yo Ma's music and became his fan. He invited Yo-Yo Ma to play at his wedding, but Yo-Yo Ma missed it because he went abroad to perform. A few years later, Yo-Yo Ma came to Jobs' house, sat in the living room and played Bach's music. He told Mr. and Mrs. Jobs, "This is the song I want to play at your's wedding." Jobs was very moved and said to him, "Your performance is the best I have ever heard. This is like the arrival of God, because I don't believe that a mortal can do this. " When Jobs was diagnosed with cancer, he invited Yo Yo Ma to play at his funeral.
Yo-Yo Ma returned to China in 1980s and performed in the Central Conservatory of Music.
1992 In the spring, Yo-Yo Ma suffered a major crisis in his life. Since the 1980s, he has continuously integrated folk music, pop music and even marginal instruments from all over the world into his works, which has angered the conservatives in the serious music industry.
The Vienna National Theatre cancelled the performance contract with him. Even Stern, who played ball with him at the age of 6 and helped him many times, refused to perform with Yo-Yo Ma. He said to Yo-Yo Ma, "Son, you have slipped too far on the self-righteous track. Should we turn classical music into a children's song show? "
When Yo-Yo Ma was completely surrounded by confusion and helplessness, his wife Jill comforted him and said, "Beethoven said,' Rules are meant to be broken'. You think all classical music is the best combination of folk music and pop music at that time. You don't want our children and their children to know only Mozart and Bach, but you don't know that other music has existed in our time! You're not wrong! This is not a wife's opinion, but the voice of your most trusted friend! "
Yo-Yo Ma and his wife are very affectionate. "My wife is a German literature teacher at Harvard University. She is not a musician, but she is my best critic and the person who listens to me the most. "
1993, Yo-Yo Ma was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
From 65438 to 0997, Yo-Yo Ma spent many years creatively interpreting cello suites by combining various performing arts.
"Every stage of my life needs different motives to motivate me to continue playing the cello. When I was a child, I played music because I was born in a musical family, and my family had expectations of me. It was easy for me to get happiness from playing musical instruments. When I was a teenager, I used to play musical instruments as an expression. After that, I played music as a way to explore and find meaning, a voice representing individuals, groups, different times and regions. Recently, music has become the decoding of my life experience and friendship in my memory. I also believe that this infinitely rich nature is a reflection of the human spirit. "
From 65438 to 0998, Yo-Yo Ma registered the non-profit art, culture and education organization project "Silk Road Project" in the United States, and devoted himself to art, culture and education activities, hoping to break down regional barriers by bringing artists and audiences from all over the world together.
1999, Yo-Yo Ma brewed the Soul of Brazil album of 10. After a long debate, Grammy crowned him with 12.
In the same year, Yo-Yo Ma led a small audience into the music world in TV programs such as Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street. Yo-Yo Ma strives to create music space for children and make music and creativity a part of their lives.
In 2000, he played the theme song for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won the Oscar for Best Music that year.
In the same year, he founded the Silk Road Orchestra, a non-profit art, cultural and educational organization that brought together musicians, composers and arrangers from the United States, Russian, Japanese, Iranian and China. They persist in exploring the differences between eastern and western music and make unremitting innovations on this basis.
"The core concept of Silk Road Orchestra is' tearing down walls and bridging bridges'. As a musician, I have traveled all over the world and can always see many different perspectives. It is assumed that every nation can express itself with music, sound and language. So, what happens when so many different voices gather together? What will these sounds be like? From Pakistan, from Buenos Aires, what happens when these voices come together? This is the source of creativity. "
"All art is for talking. Through music, you can know what great men hundreds of years ago were thinking, such as Beethoven and Bach. " Yo-Yo Ma said, "Through music, you can understand their musical thoughts. How wonderful and exciting it is! When I reinterpret the hearts of those great composers through notes, it is the most glorious moment as a performer. "
What he wants to tell people is that music itself has rich possibilities, and it can bring people different inspirations. More importantly, music can teach people to think in more ways. If everyone can do this, the gap between people will be narrowed and the world will become more open.
"I will listen to the works of jazz, classical and trendy musicians from all over the world and associate these sounds with historical events. I think this is a way for people to feel and imagine those times that are gradually becoming out of reach. "
"Every country and every society has music, and music expresses the most precious thoughts and feelings in our hearts. The most important thing in life is that people from different places and countries know more and communicate more. "
Under the guidance of this concept, Yo-Yo Ma moved from a top cellist to a new height, and devoted himself to the exchange, integration, promotion and education of music cultures of all ethnic groups.
In spring of 2004, Yo-Yo Ma won the 43rd Grammy Award again. Under the strong pressure of the public and media, the Vienna National Theatre invited Yo Yo Ma again.
Yo-Yo Ma once said, "Music is unparalleled, so he can perform, but he can't compete." . That's why he refused to win the Grammy.
In 2005, the Hollywood composer John? Williams announced that he would cooperate with Yo-Yo Ma to complete the soundtrack of Memoirs of a Geisha.
In 2006, Yo-Yo Ma returned to his hometown of Ningbo to hold a solo cello concert on Bach's trip.
Parents who immigrated to France insisted on teaching Yo-Yo Ma and his sister to listen to Chinese, practice calligraphy and communicate only in Chinese. It was not until Yo-Yo Ma went to new york at the age of five that he gave up Chinese expression.
Yo-Yo Ma's ancestral home,
"When I set foot in Hongkong, Taiwan Province Province and Chinese mainland, the culture, education and customs I received as a child became so vivid and lifelike. Everyone here is talking about what my parents said. I feel a close relationship and I am eager to know about it. "
In 2007, Yo-Yo Ma and his "Silk Road" ensemble attended the opening ceremony of the World Special Olympics.
When talking about practicing the piano, Yo-Yo Ma said, "Sometimes I can practice for hours, and sometimes I may only play for a few minutes. In my opinion, imagining yourself practicing the piano is also part of the practice. Whether you imagine yourself practicing the piano or you are really practicing it, the brain will establish the same neural connections and muscle memory. After all, practicing the piano focuses on quality, not quantity. "
On June 20, 2009, Yo-Yo Ma performed at the inauguration ceremony of US President Barack Obama. On 20 10/1February 15, US President Barack Obama awarded 15 people the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including Yo-Yo Ma. In the same year, Yo-Yo Ma won the lifetime achievement award from the Kennedy Center.
In 20 16, Yo-Yo Ma was still working on his Silk Road project. Ma Youyou, Wu Tong and Long Yu started from Xi, the starting point of the Silk Road, and held three western concerts with local philharmonic orchestras in Xi 'an, Lanzhou and Urumqi respectively.
2017 February 13, won the 59th Grammy Award "Best World Music Album" in Los Angeles, USA 18 times.
Yo-Yo Ma is the China musician who has been attached to Grammy the most times. What is particularly rare is that he is more "compatible" than other classical musicians. His biggest goal is to turn music into a language of communication, cross different races in the world and narrow the distance between people.
I prefer the German audience. They all came to the concert with music scores and were very absorbed. French listeners need visual guidance, while British people pay attention to auditory effects. They seldom applaud, but you will feel warm.
Yo-Yo Ma: "The definition of culture in my mind is the deepest expression of human heart. The focus of culture is not to be created, but to live in people's hearts. As a performer, what I want to do is not to play a piece of music perfectly, but to make sure that the listener is involved and likes it. Whether it is playing music, talking to people, or teaching, this is true. After all, education and culture are the same thing: creating something that can survive in memory.
I always believe that art and science are both part of philosophy, and these fields are essentially the exploration of nature and human truth. "
"In my heart, his kindness and sincerity are more important than his success in playing the cello." Mother Lu said to her, "Because he is my son, not a machine. Cello is his hobby. He used the cello to spread his love. I love him the most. " "
My mother Lu Wen Ya said, "I'm almost ninety years old. I have never told anyone before, but I think it is good for others and future generations. One day, Yo Yo Ma's time will pass, and Yo Yo will say,' In a few years, people may forget me.' "
In the long river of history, people's life is short, but beautiful music and the brilliance of human nature will last forever, just like Bach's music in the Baroque era in the 6th century and the humanistic spirit in the Renaissance in the 2nd century.
Yo-Yo Ma's innovative spirit in music is worth remembering and inheriting forever!
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