Postcards from the Road

Asia – Concert Tour
April 18-30, 2010

New York, U.S. – Silk Road Connect Update
March 30, 2010

A man with a donkey cart beside Lake Karakul in China

Why the Silk Road?
The historic Silk Road trade network provides a namesake-worthy metaphor for the Silk Road Project’s vision of connecting artists and audiences around the world. Yo-Yo Ma has called these routes, which resulted in the first global exchange of scientific and cultural traditions, the “Internet of antiquity.” The Silk Road Project takes inspiration from this age-old tradition of cross-cultural exchange.

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The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at Damrosch Park during a free concert taped for "Live From Lincoln Center"

6/12/2009 4:34:00 PM

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Percussionists Dong-Won Kim from Korea, Sandeep Das from India, Mark Suter from Switzerland and Shane Shanahan from the U.S. perform Das’ "Shristi"

6/12/2009 4:34:00 PM

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Mugham vocalists Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova, center, lead the Ensemble in traditional music of Azerbaijan

6/12/2009 4:34:00 PM

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Galician bagpiper Cristina Pato takes the spotlight with Yo-Yo Ma during the opening of "Wah Habbibi" from Osvaldo Golijov’s "Air to Air"

6/12/2009 4:33:00 PM

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Approximately 3,500 people attended the June 9 concert at the Damrosch Park band shell

6/12/2009 4:33:00 PM

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"Live From Lincoln Center" cameras were able to film the concert at close range

6/12/2009 4:32:00 PM

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Tabla player Sandeep Das, clearly enjoying the performance

6/12/2009 4:32:00 PM

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Violinist Jonathan Gandelsman plucks a string while he looks on in appreciation of Kojiro Umezaki’s shakuhachi solo

6/12/2009 4:32:00 PM

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The Silk Road Ensemble and student musicians from the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Michigan end the concert with panache

6/12/2009 4:31:00 PM

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After the dress rehearsal, Silk Road Connect pilot program teachers got a backstage pass to talk with Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Ensemble

6/12/2009 4:31:00 PM

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Yo-Yo Ma signing autographs for teachers who will work with the Silk Road Project during the 2009-2010 school year

6/12/2009 4:30:00 PM

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Yo-Yo Ma with members of the Silk Road Connect team from PS 185 Edward Bleeker School in Queens

6/12/2009 4:29:00 PM

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The Silk Road Ensemble rehearsing at Damrosch Park the day before the final concert

6/12/2009 4:29:00 PM

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Kojiro Umezaki and Wu Tong practice their improvised processional, "Wandering Winds," to open the concert

6/12/2009 4:44:00 PM

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Yo-Yo Ma shares a lighthearted moment with Fargana Qasimova and Alim Qasimov during rehearsal

6/12/2009 4:28:00 PM

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A "Live From Lincoln Center" crew member gives instructions to University of Michigan percussion students

6/12/2009 4:27:00 PM

New York, U.S. – Lincoln Center Concerts & Broadcast
June 5-9, 2009

As a highlight of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ 50th season, the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma presented three unique performances, two in the newly remodeled Alice Tully Hall and a free outdoor concert across the plaza in Damrosch Park, which was broadcast across the U.S. on PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center.

The music on June 5 and 6 ranged from the eccentric and witty—Giovanni Sollima’s The Taranta Project and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky’s Paths of Parables—to the poignant Layla and Majnun, a multimedia chamber arrangement of an Azerbaijani opera. The New York Times concert review praised Layla and Majnun's "spare, deeply expressive laments, tinged and embellished with exuisite subtlety" and noted that the Silk Road Project "has carved out an invaluable niche for itself on the international classical music scene.”

One June 8, approximately 1,000 New York City public school teachers attended a private dress rehearsal in the park. Invited by the Silk Road Project, many of the teachers had attended a workshop in February introducing Silk Road Connect, the Project’s educational program for sixth-grade students, which will be implemented over the coming years in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and several arts and cultural organizations in the city. Teachers from five schools selected for a pilot program during the 2009-2010 school year had an opportunity to meet Yo-Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble members backstage after the rehearsal.

On the day of the final concert, a forecast of thunderstorms failed to dampen the expectations of an eager audience. More than two hours before the concert, 500 people already waited in a line that stretched around 62nd Street onto Amsterdam Avenue, and by show time Damrosch Park was filled with an overflow crowd of 3,500 for a concert by musicians from Japan, Korea, China, India, the United States, Switzerland, Iran, Canada, Israel and Spain.

For the final boisterous pieces, the Ensemble recruited reinforcements in the string and percussion sections. Guest artists included string players from the Manhattan School of Music, a Silk Road Connect partner, and percussion students of Joseph Gramley’s from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.

In his review of the June 9 concert, Classical Music Writer James Oestreich applauded the spirit of the Ensemble: “the beauty of the project is that it has from the start attracted international performers whose musical virtuosity and personal charisma rival those of Mr. Ma, who often takes a back seat.” As Yo-Yo Ma often says, in the Silk Road Ensemble the world is gathered together on one stage.

CONCERT PROGRAMS & BACKGROUND:
6/5 concert in Alice Tully Hall
6/6 concert in Alice Tully Hall
6/9 concert in Damrosch Park
Broadcast introduction from Live From Lincoln Center
Press release from the Silk Road Project

Participating Artists

Jeffrey Beecher, contrabass
Nicholas Cords, viola
Sandeep Das, tabla
Jonathan Gandelsman, violin
Joseph Gramley, percussion
Rauf Islamov, kamancheh
Colin Jacobsen, violin
Eric Jacobsen, cello
Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh
Dong-Won Kim, jang-go & vocals
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Ali Asgar Mammadov, tar
Max Mandel, viola
Cristina Pato, Galician bagpipe
Alim Qasimov, mugham vocals
Fargana Qasimova, mugham vocals
Shane Shanahan, percussion
Mark Suter, percussion
Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi
Wu Man, pipa
Wu Tong, sheng

Guest Artists

Michael Coletti, percussion
Benjamin Grossman, viola
Erik Grossman, viola
Hanna Ji, violin
Julian Langford, cello
Faraz Minooei, santur
Nicholas Rifken, percussion
Caroline Suh, violin
Ian Sullivan, percussion

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New York, U.S. – Lincoln Center Concerts & BroadcastJune 5-9, 2009

Participating Artists

Guest Artists

New York, U.S. – Lincoln Center Concerts & Broadcast
June 5-9, 2009