We are pleased to announce that two additional Silk Road Ensemble musicians have received Silk Road Project stipends of $2,000 to help defray expenses for their own creative projects. (See our January 2011 story for the first three recipients.)
A committee reviews proposed musical and educational initiatives and selects collaborative projects with broad reach that further the Silk Road Project's mission and vision. We are proud that so many of our Ensemble members are engaged in such heartfelt and inspiring work.
HUM (Harmony and Universality through Music)
For tabla player Sandeep Das, the idea for the Hum Ensemble sprang from his longtime involvement with the Silk Road Project and desire to encourage a similar cross-pollination of cultural and musical influences in his native India. He has been hard at work recruiting fellow musicians and coordinating performances, the most recent of which took place in February 2011 in New Delhi and Mumbai. Sandeep has set his sights high, opening concert attendance free of charge to reach a large cross-section of Indian society. He is also involving the next generation of musicians by training young visually impaired singers to perform with the ensemble.
The music from the video above, featuring Sandeep, Cristina Pato, Wu Tong, Mark Suter and John Hadfield, may be familiar to fans of the Silk Road Ensemble!
Ghostly Tales
For his creative project, Silk Road Ensemble member Yang Wei is drawing inspiration from an early Qing Dynasty collection of supernatural folk tales, the Liao Zhai Zhi Yi,
written by Pu Songlin nearly 500 years ago. Recognizing the appeal of
ghost stories across cultures, Yang Wei plans to retell some of
these tales through a combination of narrative and music: a
new composition for his own instrument, the pipa,
and a Western string instrument. As opportunities arise, he would like to present
the tales at schools, arts organizations and performance venues in the Chicago area, where he lives, and to create a
DVD or CD of the piece to reach a wider audience.
|
|
| |
Yang Wei performing with the Silk Road Ensemble in August 2010
|
© TODD ROSENBERG
|
Other Silk Road Ensemble creative projects supported by the Silk Road Project
|