Postcards from the Road

Asia – Concert Tour
April 18-30, 2010

Silk Road Ensemble percussionists passing sheet music around a picnic table at Tanglewood

Developing New Works
Silk Road Ensemble percussionists Dong-Won Kim, Sandeep Das, Shane Shanahan and Joseph Gramley collaborate on new music. Commissioning workshops and Silk Road Ensemble retreats provide opportunities for Ensemble members to improvise and trade ideas for new compositions. Percussionists developed the popular piece Vocussion, recorded on the New Impossibilities album during a workshop at Tanglewood.

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Yo-Yo Ma with Silk Road Ensemble members Colin Jacobsen, Nicholas Cords and Wu Man during a rehearsal on tour

5/25/2010 3:27:00 PM

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Appetizers at a traditional Korean restaurant in Seoul where the Ensemble had dinner with Dong-Won Kim

5/25/2010 3:26:00 PM

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Kayagum player and pansori singer Ji Hyun Kim after the concert in Seoul

5/25/2010 3:26:00 PM

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Macao — a combination of Chinese and Portuguese cultures

5/25/2010 3:26:00 PM

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Ensemble members and crew unload luggage at one of the seven cities visited on tour

5/25/2010 3:25:00 PM

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Percussionists Joseph Gramley, Mark Suter and Haruka Fujii, who joined the Ensemble on stage for the first time during this tour

5/25/2010 3:17:00 PM

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The Ensemble rehearses at Taichung Fulfillment Amphitheatre in Taichung, Taiwan

5/25/2010 3:25:00 PM

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Wu Man rehearses “White Snow in the Sunny Spring,” a pipa solo, at the outdoor concert arena in Taichung

5/25/2010 3:25:00 PM

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The sculpture garden outside the museum in Taichung

5/25/2010 3:24:00 PM

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A Thai dancer entertains Colin and Wu Man at dinner in Bangkok

5/25/2010 3:20:00 PM

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Traveling by “tuk-tuk” in Bangkok

5/25/2010 3:20:00 PM

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Colorful silk on display at a shop in Thailand

5/25/2010 3:19:00 PM

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A rehearsal at the Thailand Cultural Centre and the seat reserved for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand

5/25/2010 3:19:00 PM

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Dominating the Singapore skyline, a new design by architect Moshe Safdie

5/25/2010 3:19:00 PM

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Ensemble members Liu Lin and Wu Tong with the Chinese instruments ruan and sheng

5/25/2010 3:18:00 PM

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Yo-Yo chats with percussionists Mark and Haruka during a rehearsal

5/25/2010 3:25:00 PM

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Street food in Singapore

5/25/2010 3:17:00 PM

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Rehearsing in Singapore

5/25/2010 3:17:00 PM

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Singapore Symphony Orchestra conductor Lan Shui led the Ensemble and orchestra members in Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky’s “Night Music: Voice in the Leaves”

5/25/2010 3:16:00 PM

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The full group of Silk Road Ensemble and Singapore Symphony Orchestra members onstage together for the tour's final concert

5/25/2010 3:16:00 PM

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Percussionist Mark Suter, harpist Gulia Mashurova and perhaps the next generation of the Silk Road Ensemble, baby Jasper

5/25/2010 3:15:00 PM

Asia – Concert Tour
April 18-30, 2010

For the first time in nearly six years, the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma returned to South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore during an April 2010 concert tour, which also featured the Ensemble’s debut performances in Macao and Thailand:

Seoul Arts Center – Seoul, South Korea
Macao Cultural Centre – Macao S.A.R., China
Taipei National Concert Hall – Taipei, Taiwan
Taichung Fulfillment Amphitheatre – Taichung, Taiwan
Jhihde Theatre – Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Thailand Cultural Centre – Bangkok, Thailand
Esplanade Concert Hall – Singapore

Musicians rehearsed and performed six different programs in venues ranging from concert halls to an outdoor arena. Highlights of the two-week, seven-city tour included the Asian premieres of Osvaldo Golijov’s Air to Air and Evan Ziporyn’s Sulvasutra. Other recently commissioned music performed on tour included works by Gabriela Lena Frank and Angel Lam, played alongside traditional Chinese and Persian music arranged for the Ensemble.

With so many distinct concert programs, different members of the Silk Road Ensemble joined the tour at various stages. Percussionist and vocalist Dong-Won Kim introduced the Ensemble to a traditional Korean sailing song, Baet Nore (“Distant Horizons”), which violinist Jonathan Gandelsman arranged for the group to perform in Seoul. In Singapore, members of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra joined the Ensemble for part of the final concert of the tour.

The Silk Road Ensemble also reached out to communities during the tour, holding an open rehearsal and giving a musical workshop for student musicians in Taichung and another for students in Singapore. In Bangkok, the musicians met Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who has played an active role in promoting the preservation and performance of Thai traditional music.

TOUR DIARY & BLOG:

Tour Diary: Chinese pipa player Wu Man talks about life on the road with the Silk Road Ensemble
“As we all gather together to embark on a new journey, it feels like a homecoming, even though we will be traveling constantly during that time.”
June 2010 – Gramophone Magazine

Tour Blog: Silk Road Ensemble members answered questions from students in our Silk Road Connect program in New York City
Silk Road Ensemble Asia Tour Q&A

MEDIA COVERAGE:

Eclectic fusion of sounds
May 5, 2010 – Bangkok Post

Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Ensemble arrive in Taiwan for three-city tour
April 21, 2010 – Focus Taiwan

Learn for Life
April 19, 2010 – Straits Times (Singapore)

Hyosung Boosts Cultural Activities with Silk Road Ensemble
April 19, 2010 – Korea Times

Participating Artists

Jeffrey Beecher, contrabass
Nicholas Cords, viola
Sandeep Das, tabla
Haruka Fujii, percussion
Jonathan Gandelsman, violin
Joseph Gramley, percussion
Colin Jacobsen, violin
Siamak Jahangiry, ney
Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh
Dong-Won Kim, jang-go and vocals
Ji Hyun Kim, kayagum
Liu Lin, ruan and guitar
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Gulia Mashurova, harp
Mark Suter, percussion
Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi
Wu Man, pipa
Wu Tong, sheng

Guest Artist

Vesal Arabzadeh, setar

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Asia – Concert TourApril 18-30, 2010

Participating Artists

Guest Artist

Asia – Concert Tour
April 18-30, 2010