The Silk Road Project | Summer 2008 Newsletter

Drawing inspiration from familiar wells

The Silk Road Ensemble returns to Japan

Members of the Silk Road Ensemble perform at the Honmaru Goten palace at Kumamoto Castle
© Isabelle Hunter

Silk Road Ensemble member Kojiro Umezaki leaned into the microphone, his voice rising above plucked strings and the piping sheng, pausing for the rattling punctuation of a vibraslap. With speech his only instrument, the shakuhachi player found that exaggerated enunciation and facial expressions were necessary to narrate Paths of Parables in large concert halls whose acoustics were suited to full orchestras.

Umezaki had narrated Paths of Parables in Chicago; during the Japan concert tour in April, however, he approached the three traditional Sufi parables afresh, drawing on cultural resources from his childhood in Japan.

“In the last parable alone, there are four characters, all needing to be distinct. I thank the fact that I had exposure as a kid to Japanese anime. There was a cartoon series on TV about traditional Japanese folk tales; I think that helped.”

Umezaki introduced concerts as he had when the Ensemble last performed in Japan in 2005. This time, with eight concerts in Matsumoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka and Okayama over a nine-day period, the 14 Ensemble members had a difficult pace to maintain. They made time, however, to perform for an audience of eager and engaged music students at Umezaki’s alma mater, the American School in Japan (ASIJ) in Tokyo. Umezaki’s first shakuhachi teacher Don Berger traveled from the United States to attend. The event was made possible by American Express, lead sponsor of the Silk Road Project in Japan.

Tim Carr, ASIJ’s headmaster, noted the “alignment of purpose” between the Silk Road Project and international schools. “Peace on earth just seems more possible,” he said, “when such positive, creative and unifying musical expression is given voice.”

After the official tour ended, nine Ensemble members continued on to Kumamoto, on Japan’s southernmost main island Kyushu, for an additional performance organized, in part, by Umezaki’s family. Joined by Silk Road Ensemble member and Korean percussionist and vocalist Dong-Won Kim, they performed at Honmaru Goten, a reconstructed palace in the innermost citadel of Kumamoto Castle, in celebration of the castle’s 400th anniversary. Dating to the early Edo period, the castle’s immense walls were constructed by Korean stonemasons after Japan’s invasion of Korea, and Korean district names can still be found in Kumamoto as a reminder of the results of past hostilities.

“To be able to bring Dong-Won from Korea to perform,” said Umezaki, “was a big deal in this context.”

Inside this issue:

A path to passionate learning: The fruits of three years of collaboration at Harvard

Sound of the Silk Road: the ney

Beijing: tale of a “fusion city”

Tell me a story: RISD residency turns artists into performers

A message from the Executive Director: “Hearing new music for the first time is one of the most exciting aspects of our work”

A view from the Silk Road: "With advances in communication and technology, we are more closely interconnected than ever before. What kind of education will prepare students to live on such a planet?"