He has played the cello since age 4, won 14 Grammys and performed at Carnegie Hall and on Sesame Street, but Yo-Yo Ma has another passion. "I absolutely love to go grocery shopping," he says. Imbued with what late violin virtuoso Isaac Stern called "charisma in spades," the 5'10" Ma, 46, can't hide his enthusiasm for life. "When I perform," he says, "I have this image of people who have been invited into my living room and we're sharing something. It's a basic chemistry." Says Alison Krauss, 30, who joined Ma and others on last year's Grammy-Winning Appalachian Journey. "There's no way you can not have a crush on him."
Ma lives with his wife of 23 years, Jill Hornor, 48, and their children Nicholas, 18, and Emily, 16, in Cambridge, Mass. There, says his friend, pianist Emanuel Ax, "he's razzed mercilessly: 'Dad forgot this or tripped over that.' He's definitely not top dog at home."
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