With a final concert in Millennium Park and the culminating “Creating a Life with Music” workshop, Silk Road Chicago has drawn to a close. For the Silk Road Project, this year has been an exceptional opportunity to experience a city environment of remarkable diversity, to become acquainted with its history, character and charm, and to witness firsthand Chicago’s commitment to community and culture. The Project has been honored to partner with some of the city’s great institutions and to link arms with hundreds of its cultural organizations. Each of the performances, exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops of Silk Road Chicago was one response to the initial multifaceted concept – to see what happens when there is a convergence of ideas and community dialogue.

As we sought to create a new generation of cultural exchange in Chicago, the Project's approach to programming included some overarching goals. We wanted to break down the walls between institutions, to draw on the synergy that comes from a people-oriented, people-driven process and develop ideas that focused on a shared vision. We wanted to stir young people’s imaginations, stretch their way of thinking and provide them a variety of the best possible tools to navigate the realities of our ever-changing world.

Chicago has an extraordinary capacity for vision and a long history of weaving civic experience into the city fabric. The Project's yearlong presence allowed us to initiate many good ideas, but what we leave behind, what resonates most within the community, will be the lasting effect. What remains of the Columbian Exposition of 1893? The city’s Museum of Science and Industry occupies the only in-place surviving building, but the spirit of that great World’s Fair still impacts the city. In 1909, Daniel Burnham, the fair’s architect, and Edward Bennett presented The Chicago Plan. This comprehensive vision addressed physical beautification, better living conditions for all people, reclaiming the lakefront for the public and increasing the park areas. Millennium Park, constructed under the leadership of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and considered one of the world's most significant millennium projects, is a realization of part of Burnham’s 1909 plan.

In a city of historic milestones, the Project has been a catalyst for a new kind of conversation, one that opens avenues of communication and stimulates collaborative thinking within the community and between institutions. Silk Road Chicago has been a reflection of the best that can happen when strangers meet. I am deeply grateful to the citizens of this great city who so warmly welcomed us and helped make this Silk Road dream a reality.

Yo-Yo Ma
Artistic Director