Yo-Yo Ma played for JFK at just 7 years old.

Famous Figures

O n November 29, 1962, 7-year-old cello prodigy Yo-Yo Ma performed at the D.C. National Guard Armory in front of President John F. Kennedy and other esteemed dignitaries. His appearance was part of a televised event called "An American Pageant of the Arts," which was held to raise money for the National Cultural Center — later renamed the Kennedy Center. This arts organization was founded under Kennedy's predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower, who also attended the event by remote satellite from Augusta, Georgia.

The event featured acts including singer Harry Belafonte, ballerina Maria Tallchief, and Yo-Yo Ma and his 11-year-old sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, who accompanied her brother on piano. It marked the U.S. and television debut for the cellist, who had been playing for audiences in his home nation of France since age 5. On this night, the duo was introduced by emcee Leonard Bernstein before playing a rendition of Jean-Baptiste Bréval's "Concertino No. 3 in A Major." The talented musical siblings were received quite favorably; both Kennedy and Eisenhower were shown on TV applauding with delight.

While this marked the first time Yo-Yo Ma performed for an American president, it wasn't the last. The musician has played cello in front of several U.S. presidents, including at the White House for Ronald Reagan in 1987 and at a 2018 Armistice ceremony for Donald Trump. He also performed at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration — which was attended by Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Joe Biden — and he delivered a virtual cello performance at President Biden's 2021 inauguration.

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By the Numbers

Age Yo-Yo Ma began studying cello

Value of one of Yo-Yo Ma's personal cellos

$2.5 million

Did you know?

Abraham Lincoln frequently attended the opera.

Despite his own lack of musical skills, Abraham Lincoln was a self-professed lover of music, and attended the opera upwards of 30 times during his presidency. Lincoln attended his first opera on February 20, 1861, two weeks before his first inauguration. That night he enjoyed a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's A Masked Ball, an ominously portentous story about the assassination of a Swedish king. Though he was sometimes accompanied by his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, or friends, Lincoln enjoyed attending operas alone, and was especially fond of Faust by Charles Gounod, which he saw at least four times. Lincoln found these performances therapeutic amid the tribulations of his presidency, though according to the White House Historical Association, he was often criticized for spending so much time at the opera instead of focusing his attention on the ongoing Civil War. The 16th president defended his leisurely activities, saying, "I must have a change or I will die."