Massachusetts, U.S. – Harvard Residency
November 26-30, 2007

The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma’s 2007 residency at Harvard used as its centerpiece the classic Arabian love story of Layla and Majnun. Known and beloved throughout Central Asia, the tale tells how ill-fated love turns the protagonist into Majnun—literally a ‘madman.’

During the residency, Harvard professors Ali Asani and Ingrid Monson gave related presentations, with musical examples by the Ensemble.

Ensemble member Johnny Gandelsman arranged the 1908 opera by Uzeyir Hajibeyov into a 35-minute chamber piece. The Silk Road Ensemble arrangement of Layla and Majnun
was made possible in part by generous support from the Académie Musicale de Villecroze.

Performed on two nights as a work in progress by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma, Layla and Majnun moved the packed house to momentary silence before the audience stood and burst into cheers.