Yo-Yo Ma

Sound

Yo-Yo Ma

Born

1955-10-07 (71)

Place of birth

Paris, France

Known for

Sound

Credits

48 titles

Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born to Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy, and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, Ma moved with his family to Boston and later to New York City, where he continued his cello studies at the Juilliard School before pursuing a liberal arts education at Harvard University. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world, recorded more than 92 albums, and received 19 Grammy Awards. In addition to recordings of the standard classical repertoire, Ma has recorded a wide variety of folk music, such as American bluegrass music, traditional Chinese melodies, the tan…

Known for

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson poster
7.6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

The Simpsons poster
8.0

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

The Simpsons

1989

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert poster
6.1

Stephen Colbert brings his signature satire and comedy to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the #1 show in late night, where he talks with an eclectic mix of guests about what is new and relevant in the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, music, technology, and more. Featuring bandleader Jon Batiste with his band Stay Human, the Emmy Award-nominated show is broadcast from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015

The Colbert Report poster
7.0

The Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program. It stars political humorist Stephen Colbert, a former correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Colbert Report is a spin-off from and counterpart to The Daily Show that comments on politics and the media in a similar way. The show focuses on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot", is a caricature of televised political pundits.

The Colbert Report

2005

Frasier poster
7.7

After many years spent at the “Cheers” bar, Frasier moves back home to Seattle to work as a radio psychiatrist after his policeman father gets shot in the hip on duty.

Frasier

1993

The West Wing poster
8.3

The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.

The West Wing

1999

Film credits

2020s · 7 titles

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery poster
7.0

World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery surrounding a tech billionaire and his eclectic crew of friends.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

2022

Music by John Williams poster
8.0

His unforgettable scores are an essential part of some of the most beloved movies of our time, over a career that spans decades. See and hear maestro John Williams' own story, with insights from filmmakers, musicians, and others he has inspired, complete with rare behind-the-scenes looks at the making of movie history.

Music by John Williams

2024

A Song for the Snow Lion poster
NR

As the Himalayan glaciers vanish, a cellist and a Bhutanese folk singer come together across cultures and generations to honour an ancient story passed down through the ages, and to help protect the sacred mountains and glaciers that inspired it.

A Song for the Snow Lion

2026

Half Moon poster
6.0

An elegiac documentary following virtuosic clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh, a Damascus-born musician living in exile, as he attempts to find meaning and purpose after the outbreak of war in Syria. A profound exploration of the role art can play in forging identity and community.

Half Moon

2025

Notre-Dame de Paris : La Réouverture - La Grande Soirée poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Notre-Dame de Paris : La Réouverture - La Grande Soirée

2024

No artwork available
NR

Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma, who recorded the masterpiece Beethoven Triple Concerto with Karajan over 40 years ago, now release a new recording with Barenboim as part of the Beethoven 250th anniversary project. Recorded during concerts in Buenos Aires and Berlin in the summer of 2019, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducted and played piano. Connecting the humanity embodied by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Beethoven's pursuit of harmony and revolutionary ideas, this release features the Triple Concerto alongside Symphony No. 7, brimming with joyful dance rhythms.

Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony No. 7

2020

Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy poster
NR

Yo-Yo Ma narrates a documentary about the remarkable cellist Jacqueline du Pré, whose life and career were cut short by multiple sclerosis.

Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy

2025

2010s · 10 titles

Won't You Be My Neighbor? poster
8.0

For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2018

The Words That Built America poster
6.0

In recognition of the 4th of July, several celebrities and politicians of differing ideologies join to read the historic documents which laid the foundation for the United States of America.

The Words That Built America

2017

Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration poster
NR

Tanglewood is one of the world's most beloved music festivals and serves as the summer home for the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra. In a star-studded event featuring some of its most distinguished and long-term contributors, the prestigious Tanglewood Festival celebrated its 75th anniversary with an evening of sparkling music that will long be remembered.

Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration

2013

Blue Gold: American Jeans poster
6.2

Tracing the history of blue jeans around the globe.

Blue Gold: American Jeans

2017

Mister Rogers: It's You I Like poster
7.8

Join host Michael Keaton to celebrate "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood," the pioneering children's series that premiered nationally 50 years ago. Celebrities, cast members and Joanne Rogers reveal their favorite memories from the series.

Mister Rogers: It's You I Like

2018

How to Grow a Band poster
6.5

Chris Thile is at a crossroads. His marriage has ended and his platinum-selling band, Nickel Creek, has gone on hiatus. But Thile, a prodigy who has defied expectations since he picked up the mandolin at age five, has a plan.

How to Grow a Band

2012

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble poster
6.9

Follow several talented members of the ensemble as they gather in locations across the world, exploring the ways art can both preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution.

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

2016

Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood poster
10.0

In honor of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, Tanglewood—the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—dedicated its entire 2018 season to the iconic composer, conductor, performer, educator and humanitarian. The festivities culminated on Bernstein’s centennial birthday on August 25, 2018, in a special celebrity-studded gala concert. Directed for the stage by James Darrah, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood illuminates the breadth of Bernstein’s incredible life and career, which inspired generations of music lovers around the globe – from his talent as a composer to his generosity in mentoring other composers and musicians, his inimitable role as a driving musical force at Tanglewood for over 50 years and more.

Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood

2018

The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live poster
3.8

Live performance from a group of celebrated string musicians, comprising cellist Yo-Yo Ma, fiddler Stuart Duncan, bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolist Chris Thile. The group, which came together to record the 2011 collaborative album 'The Goat Rodeo Sessions', is joined on stage by guest vocalist Aoife O'Donovan. The performance took place at the House of Blues in Boston in January 2012 and saw the talented musicians perform an eclectic setlist of material.

The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live

2012

Yo Yo Ma: The Bach Project– Six Cello Suites poster
NR

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has the Royal Albert Hall stage to himself for this Late Night Prom as he takes on the challenge of J. S. Bach’s Six Cello Suites.

Yo Yo Ma: The Bach Project– Six Cello Suites

2015

2000s · 4 titles

1990s · 11 titles

No artwork available
NR

A legendary 1990 all-star concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of the composer Tchaikovsky's birth.

Tchaikovsky: 150th Birthday Gala from Leningrad

1990

Bach Cello Suite #2: The Sound of the Carceri poster
8.0

THE SOUND OF THE CARCERI explores the deep relationship between music and architecture through a high-tech 'virtual confrontation' between Bach and his contemporary, the architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Using a striking visual style, director Francois Girard ('The Red Violin' and 'Thirty-Two Short Films about Glenn Gould') places Yo-Yo Ma within a series of computer-generated, three-dimensional recreations of Piranesi's well-known prison etchings. Through Yo-Yo Ma's and music producer Steven Epstein's struggle to recreate and interact with the imaginary space that Ma performs in, the film examines the complexity of illusion, of representation and reality.

Bach Cello Suite #2: The Sound of the Carceri

1997

Sarabande poster
6.5

The film explores the relationships that a limousine driver, a doctor, and a real estate agent have amongst each other and with Yo-Yo Ma as he travels to Canada to perform Bach's Cello Suites.

Sarabande

1997

Bach Cello Suite #1: The Music Garden poster
9.0

The Music Garden is an exploration of music as interpreted through gardening on a grand scale. The film follows the efforts of Yo-Yo Ma and landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy to create a formal garden, based on J. S. Bach's 'Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello', in the center of Boston. Woven throughout this unusual enterprise is a performance of the suite by Yo-Yo Ma, accompanied by special effects that bring the dream of the garden to life.

Bach Cello Suite #1: The Music Garden

1997

Beethoven: Triple Concerto And Choral Fantasy poster
NR

Daniel Barenboim conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in performances of Beethoven's 'Triple Concerto' and 'Choral Fantasy'. Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma are joined by Carola Höhn, Katherina Kammerloher, Andrea Bönig and Endrick Wottrich, amongst others.

Beethoven: Triple Concerto And Choral Fantasy

1995

The Best of Sessions at West 54th: Vol. 1 poster
8.0

Collecting highlights from the debut season of the acclaimed PBS series "Sessions at West 54th," this compilation video captures performances by musical greats such as trumpet maestro Wynton Marsalis and Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other artists making appearances include Emmylou Harris, Ani DiFranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Sinéad O'Connor, Keb' Mo', Patti Smith and more.

The Best of Sessions at West 54th: Vol. 1

1997

Six Gestures poster
NR

Inspired by Bach presents cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by J.S. Bach in collaboration with artists from different disciplines, in a set of six films.

Six Gestures

1997

Appointment With The Wise Old Dog poster
NR

David Blum, the internationally respected musician and writer, produced this film as he neared death from cancer. Blum believed that his inner discoveries and experience could help others realize their own spiritual strengths in a time of crisis.

Appointment With The Wise Old Dog

1998

Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration poster
NR

Three big names from the classical music scene -- legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma and lauded opera singer Frederica Von Stade -- join the Prague Philharmonic Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a once-in-a-lifetime performance of music by Czech composer Anton Dvorak. The musicians, led by renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa, give their all to highlight Dvorak's music in none other than his native Prague.

Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration

1993

No artwork available
8.0

Master Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando sets out on a journey to discover, through traditional Japanese dance, the universality and emotion of Bach's Fifth Suite. The result is this revelatory, cross-cultural and trans-oceanic collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma, sensitively documented by filmmaker Niv Fichman.

Struggle for Hope

1997

No artwork available
10.0

Renowned cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma embarks on an intense year long collaboration with choreographer Mark Morris, which culminates in a spectacular performance.

Falling Down Stairs

1997

Series credits

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson poster
7.6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

The Simpsons poster
8.0

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

The Simpsons

1989

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert poster
6.1

Stephen Colbert brings his signature satire and comedy to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the #1 show in late night, where he talks with an eclectic mix of guests about what is new and relevant in the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, music, technology, and more. Featuring bandleader Jon Batiste with his band Stay Human, the Emmy Award-nominated show is broadcast from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015

The Colbert Report poster
7.0

The Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program. It stars political humorist Stephen Colbert, a former correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Colbert Report is a spin-off from and counterpart to The Daily Show that comments on politics and the media in a similar way. The show focuses on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot", is a caricature of televised political pundits.

The Colbert Report

2005

Frasier poster
7.7

After many years spent at the “Cheers” bar, Frasier moves back home to Seattle to work as a radio psychiatrist after his policeman father gets shot in the hip on duty.

Frasier

1993

The West Wing poster
8.3

The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.

The West Wing

1999

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver poster
7.8

A half-hour satirical look at the week in news, politics and current events.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

2014

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno poster
5.3

Jay Leno hosts some of the biggest celebrities in the world.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

1992

Le Grand Échiquier poster
8.0

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

Le Grand Échiquier

1972

Arthur poster
7.0

The show revolves around the lives of 8-year-old Arthur Read, an anthropomorphic aardvark, his friends and family, and their daily interactions with each other.

Arthur

1996

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover poster
8.0

Join author, activist and commentator Margaret Hoover for a public affairs talk show that delivers a civil and engaging contest of ideas among the brightest minds and voices from across the ideological spectrum.

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

2018

Desus & Mero poster
5.1

The first ever weekly late-night talk show on Showtime features popular TV and podcast personalities Desus and Mero speaking off the cuff and chatting with guests at the intersection of pop culture, sports, music, politics and more.

Desus & Mero

2019

Deeper Look from New York poster
NR

A cutting-edge dialogue from NHK WORLD-JAPAN's New York studio. Covers the hot issue: from politics, economy, social matters, international situation or cultural topics.

Deeper Look from New York

2020

Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach poster
9.0

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma stars in a series of six short films based on Johann Sebastian Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied Cello.

Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach

1998

Behind the camera