Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble performing with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra in 2006	© LEAH PILLSBURY, HARVARD CRIMSON

Artists in Residence at Harvard University

At Harvard, the Silk Road Ensemble interacts with students, conducts workshops and shares works in progress. Led by a wish to inspire self-motivated learning, the Silk Road Project is working with the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences to facilitate multicultural artistic and intellectual coursework in the arts, literature, history and music of the Silk Road region.

Harvard has introduced two “Silk Road Courses” that are animating faculty and students in the humanities, arts, sciences and social sciences:

• "Travel, Trade and Transformation on the High Seas: An Imaginary Journey in the Early 17^th Century,” taught by Stephen Greenblatt
• "Historical and Musical Paths on the Silk Road," taught by Mark Elliott and Richard Wolf

During the October 2009 residency at Harvard, the Silk Road Project built upon a symposium held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education the previous spring. The 2009 residency focused on "inspiring passion-driven learning" through presentations, roundtable discussions, a performance workshop and a concert with Harvard undergraduate students. Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project were awarded the Thelma E. Goldberg Arts in Education Award.

During the November 2007 residency at Harvard, the Silk Road Ensemble performed during presentations by Harvard professors and developed a new multimedia work, Layla and Majnun, which they presented as a work in progress for the Cambridge community.

The Silk Road Project began its partnership with Harvard University in 2005. In 2010, the Project and Harvard renewed a five-year affiliation that will bring the Silk Road Project's office to the Harvard campus in July 2010.

In addition to free annual performances by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma for the Harvard/Cambridge community, Silk Road Ensemble members will participate in classroom work at Harvard through performance, discussion and collaborative projects. Our vision for this residency is to inform multicultural and multidisciplinary coursework at Harvard and to develop models for cultural entrepreneurship that will influence educational practice in settings beyond the university. We also hope to act as a catalyst for partnerships with Cambridge- and Boston-area arts, cultural and educational institutions.

Media Coverage of the Affiliation

Silk Road to Harvard
April 13, 2010 – Boston Globe

Silk Road to move to Allston
April 13, 2010 – Harvard Crimson

Silk Road Project moves to Harvard
April 13, 2010 – Harvard Gazette

Reaching the end of the Silk Road
October 30, 2009 – Harvard Crimson

Silk Road Project residency emphasized education and music
October 23, 2009 – Harvard Crimson

Deep into indigo: Yo-Yo Ma explores passion-driven education
October 21, 2009 – Harvard Gazette

Yo-Yo Ma visits Harvard Graduate School of Education with Silk Road Project
March 6, 2009 – Harvard Graduate School of Education website

Dance, music, literature celebrate human rights
March 5, 2009 – Harvard University Gazette

Yo-Yo Ma goes beyond the music
February 12, 2009 – Harvard Crimson

'Passion for the Arts' translates into action
February 9, 2009 – Harvard Gazette

Advice on art and life from Yo-Yo Ma
February 9, 2009 – Harvard Magazine

Harvard notables passionate for arts
February 5, 2009 – Harvard Crimson

Why did the cellist cross the Silk Road?
November 30, 2007 – Harvard Crimson

Extending the Silk Road: planning in progress for interdisciplinary Silk Road-inspired classes, projects
October 26, 2006 – Harvard University Gazette

Silk Road Project drinks to the music
October 23, 2006 – Harvard Crimson

Silk Road Festival opens today: after successful ‘05 series, project led by cellist Yo-Yo Ma ‘76 aims for encore
October 17, 2006 – Harvard Crimson

Silk Road stretches to Harvard, RISD
April 7, 2005 – Harvard University Gazette