Yo-Yo Ma

“The thing that I've always been slightly frustrated with, was that the idea of a CD is kind of confined to a material possession that you can put on a shelf. And the idea of music, for me, is always about both the communication and the sharing of content. And so the interactive part is missing.”

“I really would like to be involved in things and to understand things, and in some ways you've got to be careful what you wish for because I feel very, very blessed to have such an interesting life and to be able to have little snapshots of lives of people from many different parts of the world.”

“When you learn something from people, or from a culture, you accept it as a gift, and it is your lifelong commitment to preserve it and build on it.”

“After reaching 50, I began to wonder what the root of life is.”

“But an innovation, to grow organically from within, has to be based on an intact tradition, so our idea is to bring together musicians who represent all these traditions, in workshops, festivals, and concerts, to see how we can connect with each other in music.”

“You know, you can have someone who's the very best at something, but if there's not that kind of chemistry, collaborating is not going to amount to anything.”

“Children, in a way, are constant learners. Certainly sponge-like. Absorbing everything without careful analysis, even though, at the same time, they are certainly capable of incredible insights.”

“The tango is really a combination of many cultures, though it eventually became the national music of Argentina.”

“Jazz has been such a force in music, that any musician, including classical composers, have been influenced, and obviously performers, also.”

“I think the purpose of a piece of music is significant when it actually lives in somebody else. A composer puts down a code, and a performer can activate the code in somebody else. Once it lives in somebody else, it can live in others as well.”

“I'm not likely to forget where I've been and what I've done and learned. I think it's just as important to play new instruments as to play new pieces. The old ones are getting scarcer and the new ones more and more wonderful.”

“I think all musicians have at one time or another experienced one physical problem or another. I have had tendinitis a couple of times, so I try to be really careful. It takes patience and persistence to overcome injury.”

“I realized late in life that my twin passions are music and people.”

“Once something is memorable, it's living and you're using it. That to me is the foundation of a creative society.”

“Mastering music is more than learning technical skills. Practicing is about quality, not quantity. Some days I practice for hours; other days it will be just a few minutes.”

“With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear.”

“Music is powered by ideas. If you don't have clarity of ideas, you're just communicating sheer sound.”

“People will ask, 'Are you famous?' And I always answer, 'My mother thinks so.'”

“I think that peace is, in many ways, a precondition of joy.”

“I love grocery shopping when I'm home. That's what makes me feel totally normal. I love both the idea of home as in being with my family and friends, and also the idea of exploration. I think those two are probably my great interests.”