8 Quick Questions for Yo-Yo Ma

Famed American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, 67, has been delighting audiences for decades with his musical prowess. His newest project, Music Art Life, Bach, Unlocking Meaning and Finding Purpose, shares his deep love for the works of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Ma is hosting the eight-week collaborative online program that starts May 1 and includes livestream conversations, musical performances and guest speakers. According to Ma, “[It’s the] music and the art form that actually can help us find meaning in life.”

You’ve done impromptu performances in unexpected places [such as subway stations, a COVID-19 vaccination site, Acadia National Park and outside the Russian Embassy in Washington to show unity with Ukraine]. Is there some place left you really want to play?

It’s not a bucket list. It’s not about Oh, I want to play there. It’s whenever music can make sense, [then] that’s where it should happen. So it’s not like, I need to play on top of a mountain or underwater, but if it makes sense. If it’s [for] someone who is ill, it always makes sense — if it’s going to bring some pleasure. Or if it’s a child and you want to show them something and communicate something, that’s the appropriate time. And in between, there are the concerts you play at 8:00, right? But otherwise, it should be always wherever it can have a purpose.

What’s the purpose of your new Bach project?

Interactivity. It’s 360-degree communication. This is not a class, this was a conversation. It’s like the best of a reading group. You’re doing a reading group, but the author’s also there. My goodness, that’s a rare kind of thing. I got very excited having the rare chance to experiment. And not only because, as you know, it’s not just music as an art form, but it’s actually the music and the art form that actually can help us find meaning in life. How do you live life when you experience this kind of serendipity — of somebody taking us to an extraordinary place — and how does that affect our life? How are we all the time looking for meaningful peak experiences so then we can find life so worth living?

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What peak experiences have you had as an audience member?

I’ve had three peak experiences recently. The first one was [when] my wife [art consultant Jill Horner] and I went to the Vermeer exhibit in Amsterdam, and then we saw Rembrandts. What we discovered was, when you're not rushed to go through an exhibit and you can stare at the 16 layers of light and painting … it was such an extraordinary experience. Then, I went to see a French film a friend had recommended, Children of Paradise. … an amazing film that is an allegory about life and love in the middle of one of the greatest horrors of all time, WWII, and again a peak experience. We can experience it in all different times, and certainly, yes, at concerts. Jill and I went to a concert at the BSO [Boston Symphony Orchestra] maybe two months ago, and there was a baritone singing Wagner [Christian Gerhaher as the knight Wolfram] and every syllable he uttered was so full of expression. I was completely mesmerized. Art happens when you transcend technique, when you are taken into some complete other world. … It wasn't like he was doing pyrotechnics or whatever ... but I certainly experienced something extraordinary.