We asked him about how he started playing the cello. Again, his humorous side took over and he replied by saying how he initially wanted to play the double bass. However, since the double bass was too big, he compromised with the cello which he believed was a “good enough” size. He also mentioned that he had named his cello “Petunia.”

We also asked Mr. Ma about how often he practiced, as clearly, we assumed that he should have practiced a lot during his lifetime to be able to reach his level of mastery today. In the book, Outliers, the author states how one must have at least 10,000 hours of practice in order to become an expert at something. Surprisingly, though, Mr. Ma stated how he didn’t really practice that often though it was something that was constantly on his mind. Despite this, he expressed that during the few times when he really did get down to practicing, he really enjoyed it and attempted to give it his all. He stated that he does get tired of practicing often and added that he hasn’t fallen out of love with it yet, and doesn’t think he ever will.

We also asked him to name the performance venue which he thought was the most beautiful he had seen in his lifetime. We were all expecting a largely famous venue like Carnegie Hall or some international location that was fancy and elite. However, Mr. Ma stated that the Shalin Liu was one of his most favorite venues that he had been to so far. We didn’t know if he was joking, or whether he was just trying to be nice, but it was interesting how he always replied to our questions with completely unique answers that invariably contradicted the answers we expected from him.

Unfortunately, after a few minutes, Mr. Ma had to leave to get ready for his performance. Before he left, he reminded us to always follow our dreams and work hard to achieve our goals. After he was gone we realized that we all forgot to take a selfie with him, so we chased him down. He first said he couldn’t as time was running out, but as he was walking out of the room, he was kind enough to pause for a second and take a group selfie with us - a photo that we’ll always treasure.

His concert was magical. We were able to watch it live-streamed and it was so mesmerizing already that I can’t even imagine how surreal it would have sounded in the auditorium itself. The whole world knows that Mr. Ma is tremendously talented and incredibly gifted with the art of music. However, we - as NMYO musicians - felt that we had gotten a special opportunity to witness and meet another unexpected side of Yo-Yo Ma: a kind, fun-spirited person. Not once did he brag about his achievements, or project himself to be higher than anyone else. Even though we were teenagers, he talked to us like he was one of us, and held more interest in our musical lives than we did in his.

After his concert we performed in our chamber music ensembles along the street as the audience left the hall to walk to their gala dinner tent. Mr. Ma waved to us as we were performing on the side of the road, which showed how much he wanted to encourage us to continue making music. His passion for music overflows and touches those around him, but what is even more contagious is his amazing, selfless heart.