Silkroad Ensemble reunites for Phoenix Rising, a musical rebirth and celebration featuring thirteen Silkroad artists alongside Artistic Director and Grammy Award-winning musician and vocalist Rhiannon Giddens. Silkroad offers Phoenix Rising as a collective grieving song and clarion call, uniting audiences through varied cultural experiences to model our vision for a more peaceful and just world as we emerge from a long and stunning upheaval.

As a performer, composer, and cross-cultural connector, Rhiannon Giddens has pursued a lifelong mission to shine light on previously under-recognized voices, genres, and musical traditions. Her tour with the Silkroad Ensemble in Phoenix Rising was her first since beginning her tenure as Artistic Director of the organization, which was founded by cellist and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma in 1998.

Silkroad and Giddens have collaborated on new works that coalesce her unique worldview with the Ensemble’s collective experience during the pandemic to put together a program that features a cross-section of Silkroad’s award-winning compositions and arrangements; four major new commissions by Silkroad artists Shawn Conley, Sandeep Das, Maeve Gilchrist, and Kaoru Watanabe; and new arrangements by Giddens, Colin Jacobsen, Edward Pérez, and Mazz Swift.

Written by Joseph Gramley, Grammy Award-winning multi-percussionist who has played with Silkroad Ensemble since 2000.