Yo-Yo Ma Advocating for a Multi-perspective World Through Music. 11:00a-12:00p ET
ANDRESON: You're watching CNN and Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Welome back. And if you're just joining us, you are very welcome. A child prodigy, a Julliard graduate, a classically trained world-renowned cellist with over a dozen Grammy's. Who am I talking about? Well, the legendary Yo-Yo Ma. He has been sharing music with the world since he picked up a musical instrument at the age of 4. Well, now he's traveling the globe with a new sound and a new message that matters today more than ever before. I caught up with Yo-Yo and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh at the Abu Dhabi festival. And we started talking about the mission of their ensemble, which is known as the Silk Road.</s>YO-YO MA, CELLIST: The Silk Road was founded on an idea that people can actually get along through working together deeply. For example, at this festival, we have -- the theme is tolerance. We're trying to work towards tolerance, not only amongst ourselves, but much even deeper than that, so we can really do great work coming from different perspectives in such a way that those perspectives make us stronger and the creativity greater.</s>ANDERSON: How disappointing is it that this current administration has what many would just call outright a Muslim travel ban. You've been caught up in that yourself.</s>KINAN AZMEH, CLARINETIST: I mean, what I went through was four days of me not knowing whether I would be able to go home or not. But also putting into perspective, I mean, me not being able to go back to my apartment in New York is really nothing in comparison to people who lost their lives, or you know, the lives of the people who they love. I mean, I've been always taken aside at the airports because of the passport I hold. It's hard to really relate that a signature, one signature can change the lives of so many people in a second, you know? I don't have an emotional action. I think how can I be proactive doing this? The best thing to do is you continue to do what you do and you play, whether you're playing in New York or elsewhere, you have to keep addressing these issues by doing music.</s>ANDERSON: In February, you did publish a message in which you spoke of your deep concern, your disappointment and your sadness over this executive order. Do you continue to be concerned.</s>MA: It's not about ideology, it's not about you're right, I'm wrong, but it's like, OK, we have a difference in opinion, why is that? How can we actually take that and move towards something and not have the certitude of this is right and this is wrong, period.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recognized as one of the world's greatest musicians, Yo-Yo Ma's talents know no boundaries of genre or culture.</s>ANDERSON: You have been described as a child prodigy. How was that? Were you a happy child? Were you harangued into music, for example, or did you just have a passion for it?</s>MA: I was born in 1955 in Paris of Chinese parents. And part of my early life consists of living in France, moving to the United States, having Chinese parents and having everybody around me telling me this is the best place on Earth. I realized that everything that I was interested in had to do with my love of people and trying to figure out what people did, why they did it, and who they were. Being the slow person that I am,it wasn't until 49 that I thought, I could be a musician.</s>ANDERSON: Does how Yo-Yo Ma explains his young life and where he was at growing up sound familiar to you? I mean, you were born in Damascus, playing musical instruments from a very, very young age.</s>AZMEH: My dad used to pretend to be a conductor. He used to make my sister and I sit in the living room while he conduct Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain. We believed him, you know, because he knew where the tympani are coming from, from which speakers. So I grew up listening to lots of music growing up. And then the clarinet wasn't additional homework, it wasn't pushed that I have to become a musician. I did a double degree in music and electrical engineering. I'm an electrical engineer, I don't know if you knew that.</s>MA: ...a couple of interviews with you. I learn more and more things about your life.</s>AZMEH: Yeah, I did both. And then when I finished from both, I found myself applying for grad schools only in music. So, it was a natural, you know, development.</s>ANDERSON: So, the clarinet wasn't your first love necessarily, nor Yo-Yo was the cello for you? MA; Right. I just wanted something big when I was born.</s>AZMEH: My preference was something light that I can travel with, because when they suggested that I switch to an even handed instrument, the options were a clarinet or a piano. And I immediately the piano was ruled out, because I was thinking I would like to travel with my instrument.</s>MA: That's why he's smarter than I am. Already then he wanted something light.</s>AZMEH: From the first year, I remember my dad telling me - and he said Kinan, you know, this is something that you should keep an eye on.</s>ANDERSON: What do you want its message to be?</s>MA: Only through multi perspectives can you get something strong enough to withstand scrutiny from different outlooks.</s>ANDERSON: And it couldn't be more important now, given the roiling conflicts in this region, particularly that of Syria. Can you just explain or express, if you will, a man who was born and brought up in Damascus, what this conflict means to you.</s>AZMEH: You know, we're witnessing one of the biggest human tragedies in recent history. Half a million people killed, half of the country's population has been displaced, more refugees in surrounding countries. It makes you question, why do you do what you do? In the beginning, since 2011, you know you start, I hold my instrument and I think, what can I do? And I realize, you know, it cannot stop a bullet, it cannot free up a political prisoner, it cannot bring refugees back home, it cannot do all of these things. But what it can do, and I realized later, that it can inspire. It can bring hope, you know, sometimes. And for me now making music is an act of freedom. And I want to hold on to that. You know, if one has to think about what happened in Syria in 2011, people wanted to express an opinion. I mean, I have the luxury of holding a tool that can be loud at times, being able to not only express your own opinion, but also share other opinions. And being part of the ensemble is a great platform for that.</s>ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World. Coming up, they are all- American, head scarves and all, the photographer keen to provide a platform to celebrate Muslims in America. That's next.