Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way, it becomes your friend for life. Yo-Yo Ma More Quotes by Yo-Yo Ma More Quotes From Yo-Yo Ma My teacher, my great cello teacher Leonard Rose, was such a great cellist, and nurturing man, very patient. But I grew up not only admiring him, but obviously Casals, Rostrotovich, Jacqueline du Pre, and many others, including many of my peers and contemporaries. Yo-Yo Ma rose teacher men 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 unbelievable-things musician different I realized late in life that my twin passions are music and people. Yo-Yo Ma passion twins people We may be coming to a new golden age of instrument making. Yo-Yo Ma golden age may One of the most interesting aspects of the film project was collaborating with so many people - directors, filmmakers, and writers - over a five-year period. I learned that there are two components to this. Yo-Yo Ma two people years After reaching 50, I began to wonder what the root of life is. Yo-Yo Ma roots life-is wonder I think anybody who goes away finds you appreciate home more when you return. Yo-Yo Ma appreciate home thinking It's easy for me to care about Toronto, because Toronto is a community that cares about itself. It represents the world. It talks to itself, and because it does, it figures out that there must be a music garden as part of its existence. Yo-Yo Ma community garden doe There's a part of me that's always charging ahead. I'm the curious kid, always going to the edge. Yo-Yo Ma charging curious kids People will ask, 'Are you famous?' And I always answer, 'My mother thinks so.' Yo-Yo Ma mother people thinking A composition is always more than the sum of its parts. In other words, a really good piece of music is more than itself. It's sort of like a prism, which you can see from each facet a single totality. Yo-Yo Ma words good you music 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. Yo-Yo Ma quality learning music practice My job as a performer is to make sure that whatever happens in a performance lives in somebody else, that it's memorable... If you forget tomorrow what you heard yesterday, there's really not much point in you having been there - or me, for that matter. Yo-Yo Ma job me you tomorrow
