Boston, October 3, 2014 — /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Between October 28 and November 10, 2014, the celebrated Silk Road Ensemble with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will bring innovative cross-cultural music to eight major Asian cities. Their musical journey will begin in South Korea, with a first-time appearance in Daejeon as well as a return visit to Seoul. Traveling to Japan, they will greet audiences in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo before touching down in Taiwan for performances in Taipei and Kaohsiung, and finally China, for a concluding concert in Shanghai. As part of its 15th-anniversary celebration, Silkroad will share updates from the tour at #silkroad15. See the Silkroad website for a detailed Asia tour concert schedule.
“It is an honor for me to perform with the Silk Road Ensemble for friends both old and new in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China,” said Yo-Yo Ma, Silkroad Founder and Artistic Director. “My fellow performers and I look forward to sharing music that springs from the cherished traditions of these cultures, and our joy in working together at the place where they intersect. As we celebrate Silkroad’s 15th anniversary, we are grateful for the continuing opportunity to show how music can connect us and enrich our humanity—to share with you how much culture matters.”
These concert programs are rich with compositions that celebrate the musical traditions of eastern Asia and beyond. Audiences will hear contemporary arrangements of traditional tunes, spirited percussion pieces, captivating solo moments by musicians such as pipa virtuosa Wu Man, and works by celebrated composers such as Jia Daqun and Gabriella Lena Frank, as well as the Ensemble’s own Kayhan Kalhor and Kojiro Umazaki.
This Asia concert tour is a highlight of the 15th-anniversary season of Silkroad, the international cultural nonprofit founded by Yo-Yo Ma and directed by Laura Freid. To mark the anniversary, the Silk Road Ensemble is performing with Mr. Ma on three continents, giving concerts at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in North America and Amersterdam’s Concertgebouw in Europe. Most recently, filming took place in Turkey for The Sound of Silk, a full-length documentary about the Silk Road Ensemble being directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom), which will premiere in 2015.
Lead Sponsor Hyosung Corporation and other institutional partners enable Silkroad to continue to promote innovation, education, and cross-cultural understanding around the globe.
Silk Road Ensemble Musicians on This Tour
Jeffrey Beecher, bass (USA) Nicholas Cords, viola (USA) Sandeep Das, tabla (India) Haruka Fujii,percussion (Japan) Johnny Gandelsman, violin (Israel/Russia) Joseph Gramley, percussion (USA) Colin Jacobsen, violin (USA) Eric Jacobsen, cello, conductor (USA) Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh(Iran) Dong-Won Kim, jang-go, vocals (Korea) Ji-Hyun Kim, kayagum (Korea) You-Young Kim, viola(Korea) Yo-Yo Ma, cello (USA) Shane Shanahan, percussion (USA) Mark Suter, percussion(Switzerland/USA) Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi (Japan) Wu Man, pipa (China) Wu Tong, sheng(China)
The Silk Road Ensemble
Representing a global array of cultures, Silk Road Ensemble musicians co-create art, performance and ideas. Since 2000, the Silk Road Ensemble has been redefining classical music for 21st-century audiences. By drawing on the rich array of traditions that make up our shared cultural heritage, they create a new musical language—a unique encounter between the foreign and the familiar that reflects our many-layered contemporary identities. The ensemble has been called “vibrant and virtuosic” by the Wall Street Journal, “one of the 21st century’s great ensembles” by the Vancouver Sun, and a “roving musical laboratory without walls” by the Boston Globe. Audiences and critics throughout Asia, Europe, and North America have embraced these artists passionate about cross-cultural understanding and innovation. The group has recorded five albums, including the most recent CD, A Playlist Without Borders, and Live From Tanglewood DVD.
Yo-Yo Ma
The many-faceted career of cellist Yo-Yo Ma is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Mr. Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras worldwide and his recital and chamber music activities. In addition to founding and serving as artistic director of the Silk Road Project, Mr. Ma also is also the Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Negaunee Music Institute. His work focuses on the transformative power music can have in individuals’ lives, and on increasing the number and variety of opportunities audiences have to experience music in their communities.
Silkroad
Inspired by his curiosity about the world and eager to forge connections across cultures, disciplines, and generations, cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded the nonprofit organization Silkroad in 1998. Through performance and the creation of new music, cultural partnerships, education programs, and cross-disciplinary collaborations, Silkroad creates unexpected connections, collaborations, and communities, working at the edge where education, business, and the arts come together to transform the world. Hyosung Corporation is Lead Sponsor of Silkroad, 2011-2014.