Revisiting Yo-Yo Ma's "This I Believe" Essay
Based on a radio series of the same name that aired in the 1950s, NPR’s This I Believe was launched in April 2007. It’s a national project that invites people to write about the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. A selected essay is aired each week, alternating between Mondays and Sundays on All Things Considered, NPR.org, and Sunday Weekend Edition.
We were intrigued with Yo Yo Ma’s This I Believe essay that was aired on March 10, 2008, and his journey in choosing what he considers the best of his three “cultures” – China, France, and the United States. One might say that Ma is an ambassador for each, as well as to the world, through his music.
WKAR Radio and TV have been airing child prodigy Ma’s performances for more than 40 years. And, in 1980 WKAR-TV was honored to have Ma appear along with pianist Emanuel Ax as part of its In Recital series. The Ma-Ax performance was accepted for national distribution by PBS.
A Musician of Many Cultures
This I Believe
By Yo Yo Ma
I believe in the infinite variety of human expression.
I grew up in three cultures: I was born in Paris, my parents were from China and I was brought up mostly in America. When I was young, this was very confusing: everyone said that their culture was the best, but I knew they couldn’t all be right.
I felt that there was an expectation that I would choose to be Chinese or French or American. For many years I bounced among the three, trying on each but never being wholly comfortable. I hoped I wouldn’t have to choose but I didn’t know what that meant and how exactly to “not choose.”
However, the process of trying on each culture taught me something. As I struggled to belong, I came to understand what made each one unique. At that point, I realized that I didn’t need to choose one culture to the exclusion of another, but instead I could choose from all three.
The values I selected would become part of who I was, but no one culture needed to win. I would honor the cultural depth and longevity of my Chinese heritage, while feeling just as passionate about the deep artistic traditions of the French and the American commitment to opportunity and the future.
So, rather than settling on any one of the cultures in which I grew up, I now choose to explore many more cultures and find elements to love in each. Every day I make an effort to go toward what I don’t understand. This wandering leads to the accidental learning that continually shapes my life.
As I work in music today, I try to implement this idea – that the music I play, like me, doesn’t belong to only one culture. In recent years, I have explored many musical traditions.
Along the way, I have met musicians who share a belief in the creative power that exists at the intersection of cultures. These musicians have generously become my guides to their traditions. Thanks to them and their music I have found new meaning in my own music making.
It is extraordinary the way people, music and cultures develop. The paths and experiences that guide them are unpredictable. Shaped by our families, neighborhoods, cultures and countries, each of us ultimately goes through this process of incorporating what we learn with who we are and who we seek to become. As we struggle to find our individual voices, we’ve been assigned, and find our place among the tones and timbre of human expression.
published: May 20, 2008
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