马友友出生于法国，长于美国，身上流得却是中国人的血液。
马友友4岁那年跟他父亲上了第一堂大提琴课，这标志着一个不同凡响的演出生涯的开始。6岁时他在巴黎大学举行首场独奏会，节目中有一首巴赫无伴奏组曲。 1962年爱好音乐的马氏家族迁居纽约市后，由于他的无可置疑的天才，马友友进入朱莉亚学院，成为伦纳德·罗斯的学生。他在该校就读到15岁，然后决定转入哈佛大学，旨在取得学位并扩展自己的视野。他顺利完成了从神童的直觉演奏到成熟音乐家的过渡，1978年获得艾弗里·费雪奖。如今46岁的马友友在世界各地都有他的热心听众，从1983年始仅与索尼合作的专辑就达50多张，14次捧得“格莱美奖”的马友友今年再度以《阿帕拉契之旅》赢得格莱美奖的“最佳古典跨界专辑”。这张专辑也获得古典音乐类的“最佳年度制作人”。人们戏谑其谓“格莱美的杀手”。
大提琴的声音属“粗”线条的，在乐器中，大提琴是最接近“人声”的奇妙乐器，马友友的琴声将其“人声”的灵性发挥了出来，清新委婉，兴味无穷。就连巴赫无伴奏组曲，到了马友友的手里，就变成了一幅幅如梦如幻的音乐诗画。
在许多现场演奏录像中端详马友友，他像个邻家男孩，非常随和，经常会露出他那特有的孩童般的微笑。马友友的琴声，马友友的音乐理念，马友友的微笑，说到底，是一种博爱，因有此境界，他的琴声才会如此“不同凡响”，他的微笑才会如此充满魅力。
Yo-Yo Ma was the cello's foremost contemporary proponent; while primarily a classical performer, he also made a number of highly successful crossover recordings. Born October 7, 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, he began playing the cello at the age of four, later studying with Janos Scholz; in 1962, he also became the pupil of Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, and was the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize in 1978. A Harvard graduate, Ma made his initial impact performing J.S. Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, which he also recorded early on in his career; years later, he returned to Bach's work alongside artists from a variety of disciplines, reinterpreting each suite for a series of films, dubbed Inspired by Bach (made in conjunction with the likes of Canadian filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Francois Giraud along with choreographer Mark Morris). In addition to the standard concerto repertoire, Ma also recorded albums such as Hush (with vocalist Bobby McFerrin) and 1996's Appalachia Waltz, an album of original Nashville music featuring country fiddler Mark O'Connor and bassist Edgar Meyer. He also performed the music of Astor Piazzolla for the soundtrack of the Sally Potter film The Tango Lesson, and explored native Chinese music as well as the music of the Kalahari bush people of Africa.
