I want to investigate different cultures, to see how their identities and values affect their music. It's one way I can get… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
As a musician I'm kind of nomadic, Waldo-like. I show up in different places, and I'm witness to unbelievable things. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
I really would like to be involved in things and to understand things, and in some ways you've got to be careful… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
Many of the Central Asians know Russian, and Ted Levin speaks it fluently. I speak Chinese, but Mongolian is completely different, so… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
As you begin to realize that every different type of music, everybody's individual music, has its own rhythm, life, language and heritage,… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
A composition is always more than the sum of its parts. In other words, a really good piece of music is more than itself.… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
My involvement in the political arena is to make sure there's a place for culture. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
People will ask, 'Are you famous?' And I always answer, 'My mother thinks so.' — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
I remember when I was growing up. My great wish was to understand who I was and how I fit in the world. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
It took me way beyond what I knew, into places of which I was totally scared, but as I became less frightened, I welcomed… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
One is that you have to take time, lots of time, to let an idea grow from within. The second is that when you… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
You go through phases. You have to reinvent reasons for playing, and one year's answer might not do for another. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
When people ask me how they should approach performance, I always tell them the professional musician should aspire to the state of the beginner. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
Mastering music is more than learning technical skills. Practicing is about quality, not quantity. Some days I practice for hours; other days it will… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
