Yo-Yo Ma

If the celebrated cellist could soundtrack his life, the music would be J.S. Bach's six Cello Suites. Yo-Yo Ma explains why they mean the world to him while he played the music at the NPR offices.

"It is so fantastic to make music with people who have incredibly strong identities," cellist Yo-Yo Ma tells Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti.

The cellist and founder of the Silk Road Ensemble talks about how his concept of "roots" has expanded — and how music happens between the notes on a page.

Sample the musically omnivorous cellist's wide-ranging work — from J.S. Bach to modern invocations of ancient folk traditions.

The world-famous cellist and his longtime pianist colleague attempt to capture the emotional signposts of a lifetime in this collection of intimate music.

In a recent lecture on the arts, the eclectic cellist made a plea for the power of diversity. When artists from divergent disciplines commingle, Ma says, it creates a "time and space for transformation."