The Music Inside Us Yo-Yo Ma and His Gifts to the World

by James Howe. Illustrator: Jack Wong

At a young age, Yo-Yo Ma discovered a remarkable gift for the cello, playing Bach from memory by age four. His technique was far beyond his years, but even as he grew and became a world-class musician—studying at Juilliard, performing at Carnegie Hall at a young age, even playing on television before the president of the United States—he wanted to use his gift for something deeper, something bigger.

As he asked question after question, trying to understand his place in the world, he discovered something that every culture has in common: music.

Ma decided that he would spend his life not only performing for others, but learning from other cultures’