Barcelona is a global city and Yo Yo Ma is a global musician. Ma has performed in cities across the world and Barcelona received tourists from across the world. It is only appropriate that the two worlds meet. Yo Yo Ma has played in Barcelona to a captivated and appreciative audience. This is due in part to Ma’s status as one of the world’s virtuoso cellists and also in part to the tremendously arts oriented population in Barcelona. Undoubtedly, many of the tourists staying in a Barcelona Spain hotel would be interested in seeing and hearing Ma play as well.
For a city that is so rich in cultural and the arts it is only fitting that a major world talent be received with such enthusiasm and support. Of course Ma receives this almost everywhere he goes. Ma was born in Paris though his parents were Chinese. His parents moved the family to New York City when Ma was only four years old, which was the same year that he first began playing the cello. He took up the cello after first studying both the violin and the viola, so by the time he had reached the ripe old age of four he was ready to begin playing the cello and by the time he was five he was already performing in front of audiences.
Ma studied at both Juilliard School where his teacher was legendary cellist Leonard Rose and he also studied at Columbia University before transferring to Harvard. One of his most famous recordings is of the Six Suites for Solo Cello composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. These suites are considered to be one of the most essential collection of works in any cellist’s repertory and very few have actually made critically acclaimed recordings of them. Ma to the music a step further and made an artistic journey on film with them. He treated each of the suites separately and created a concept and short film inspired by their music.
