Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Leonidas Kavakos are joined by violist Antoine Tamestit for Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" and Leonore Overture No. 3, releasing on August 28, 2026.

Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma announce the fourth album in their Beethoven for Three series, featuring Symphony No. 1 (Op. 21) and the “Gassenhauer” (Op. 11) and “Ghost” (Op. 70, No. 1) piano trios, three works that span more than a decade of the composer’s output.

Our Common Nature is a cultural journey, a celebration of the ways nature can reinvigorate the human experiment, reuniting us in pursuit of a common future.

Andris Nelsons and the BSO conclude their award-winning decade-long Shostakovich project by presenting their acclaimed Shostakovich symphony cycle. Benefiting from the superb audio quality achieved in the exceptional acoustic of Boston's symphony hall, Yo-Yo Ma gives inspired performances of the two cello concertos. The inventive first was written for another friend, Mstislav Rostropovich, a famously demanding piece that was an early landmark in Ma's own career. The far more introspective second was the composer's 60th-birthday present to himself.

The idea here was to put two masters together - one classical cellist, one improvisational singer/sound-effects performer - and voilà! instant amazing, unique, hip - and, hopefully, hit - record. The intriguing setup was to see what would happen when each led the other through the unfamiliar territory of his own specialty. The success of this recording lies not so much in the music or even in the overall performances, but in the fascinating and fun opportunity to sit in on the musicians' good-natured, respectful give-and-take, to witness an uncommon form of artistic chemistry that allows each performer to expand his vision and even his technique. On one hand we get Bobby McFerrin's impressionistic, improvisatory jazz/pop; on the other we enjoy Yo-Yo Ma's highly refined, formalized musicianship.

From their sold-out concert at New York City's Avery Fisher Hall, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Mark O'Connor and bassist Edgar Meyer, along with special guests James Taylor and Alison Krauss, perform works from the trio's acclaimed albums that span many musical genres.

Yo-Yo Ma might seem like an unlikely protagonist for the tango, but this intrepid musical explorer has taken his task seriously, collaborating with experienced tango musicians. Ma even participates in a posthumous collaboration with one 1987 Piazzolla recording. Furthermore, while he's obviously the headliner here, he doesn't dominate the arrangements nearly as much as he does the billing and photography of the disc. While the result isn't your essential Piazzolla album (that would have to include more of the composer's own playing), it's an atmospheric and convincing collection, perhaps a good introduction for those who don't know the music.

Merci is a deeply personal expression of gratitude, a celebration of the powerful relationships that keep music alive. This effervescent recording is rooted in the compositions of Gabriel Fauré, whom Kathryn Stott calls her “musical soulmate,” and follows the arcs of his inspiration and influence, from the creations of his teacher Camille Saint-Saëns and his friend and supporter Pauline Viardot to works by his student Nadia Boulanger and her sister, Lili. Merci is testament to the gift of friendship, to the connections among performers, between students and teachers, and across generations that make music magic.

Recorded with the Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone sees the American cellist tackle some of the legendary Italian composer's most famous film scores. Produced by Morricone himself, the 2004 release features new arrangements of iconic soundtracks from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Cinema Paradiso, and Once Upon a Time in America, alongside lesser-known works from The Mission, A Pure Formality, and The Legend of 1900.

New York-based ensemble, The Knights, announce their new Sony Classical album, Shorthand, featuring the works of one today’s most in-demand composers, Anna Clyne, set for release on August 23, 2024. Shorthand explores the sound of strings through a collection of works that represent and reflect artistic friendships and the power of collaboration and features performances by mandolinist Avi Avital, violinists Colin Jacobsen and Pekka Kuusisto, plus cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

In his relentless quest to explore uncharted territories of cellodom, Yo-Yo Ma has delivered a recital for unaccompanied cello that–daringly–hasn’t any Bach. Instead, there are five works by as many composers, only two of which are truly successful as solo cello outings: Bright Sheng’s Seven Tunes Heard in China (a self-explanatory title if there ever was one) and Zoltan Kodaly’s justly famous Sonata for Solo Cello Op. 8.

It was only a matter of time before the remarkable Yo-Yo Ma went along with the tide and dipped his talent into the so-called authentic instrument movement. On this recital, abetted by Ton Koopman–one of the most respected names in early-music practice–Ma plays Bach and Boccherini. The Bach are all transcriptions and very fine ones, indeed–the alto aria "Erbarme Dich" from the St. Matthew Passion; the equally famous "Air on a G String" from the Third Orchestral Suite; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; and six others, most less well-known. These are followed by two fascinating cello concertos by Boccherini, made all the more interesting by Koopman's cadenzas, which are pretty outrageous. Throughout, Ma's stunning virtuosity is matched by his taste and musicality. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra plays handsomely, and the recorded sound is warm and full. "Authentic" or not, this is mighty fine playing, and wait till you hear those cadenzas.

Classic Yo-Yo is a greatest-hits collection for the famous Yo-Yo Ma, something he's fully entitled to after two decades of runaway success. It's "Classic Yo-Yo" in the sense that it presents well-loved and presumably durable selections from a variety of Yo-Yo Ma albums, not because it inclines toward Ma's straight-ahead classical recordings. In fact the division between classical and crossover pieces on the disc is about 50/50, and they tend to alternate. The transition from Bach to Astor Piazzolla works OK, but that from Appalachian Journey mastermind Edgar Meyer to Brahms might be a bit jarring. A greatest-hits album is a tough item for Ma because his recordings are so different from one another and involve such a variety of other musicians. As Ma himself says in an interview included in the liner material, "Collaboration is the best part of what I do, it's what I enjoy most about being a musician".

Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences, and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music or exploring cultures and musical forms outside the Western classical tradition, Mr. Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination. Very Japanese release. Traditional instruments along with Yo-Yo Ma, lovely to just let play in the background.

This disc is sort of Yo-Yo's virtuoso collection. The album is comprised largely of fairly mindless music, but at least Ma manages to make things interesting. Most of these works are played extremely well - his cello arrangement of the Dvorak-Kriesler "Songs my mother taught me" is stunning, and if the octaves (and a bit of other passagework) in the Paganani 24th caprice are out of tune, that track still serves as a tribute to his incredible technical skill.