Silk Road Project
Encyclopedia
Silk Road Project, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma
in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and flow of ideas among different cultures along the Silk Road
. The Project encompasses a number of artistic, cultural and educational programs. It has been described as an "arts and educational organization that connects musicians, composers, artists and audiences around the world" and "an initiative to promote multicultural artistic collaboration."
The Project is involved in a two-year educational pilot program for middle-school students in New York City public schools. The program, called Silk Road Connect, focuses on passion-driven education through arts integration and is being developed with help from education experts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Silk Road Project presented performances and programs by the Silk Road Ensemble in North America, Asia and Europe from 2008 to 2010. Its anniversary season began with the Silk Road Ensemble's performance with Yo-Yo Ma of the United Nations Day
Concert in October 2008. Tenth-anniversary activities also included a North American concert tour by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma in March 2009, which featured the North American premiere of Layla and Majnun, a chamber arrangement for the Silk Road Ensemble of a traditional Azerbaijani opera.
The organization has published a book, Along the Silk Road, and commissioned more than 60 new chamber music compositions. The Silk Road Project has also created educational materials entitled "Silk Road Encounters" and has partnered with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) to produce Along the Silk Road, a curriculum for students in grades six-10, and The Road to Beijing, a documentary made available with related lessons about Beijing
in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. As of December 2008, the Silk Road Ensemble has recorded five CDs.
The Silk Road Project is affiliated with Harvard University
; the organization moved its offices to the Harvard campus in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2010 at the outset of a renewed five-year affiliation with the University, designed to enable new artistic and cultural opportunities at Harvard and in surrounding communities. The Silk Road Project has been affiliated with both Harvard University
and the Rhode Island School of Design
in the USA, where the Silk Road Ensemble engaged with faculty and students in annual residencies. The Silk Road Project's partnership with Rhode Island School of Design took place from 2005 through 2010. As part of Silk Road Project programming, the Silk Road Ensemble has also been involved in short-term residencies at Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Switzerland; The Art Institute of Chicago; University of California, Santa Barbara
; Rubin Museum of Art
in New York City; Nara National Museum
in Nara, Japan; and the Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem, Massachusetts.
At its height from the second century BCE until the 14th century, the Silk Road
was a vast network of trade routes that connected China
to the Mediterranean through Greater Iran
. For centuries ideas, objects, and people traveled along the Silk Road
, making it one of the most fluid and broad arenas of exchange the world has known and a major conduit of culture
and civilization
. The name Silk Road Project serves as a metaphor
of the cultural exchange of ideas envisioned by the project.
The Silk Road Ensemble is a musical collective
and a part of the Silk Road Project. The ensemble is not a fixed group of musicians, but rather a loose collective of as many as 60 musicians, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers from various Eurasian
cultures interested in maintaining the authenticity of their own cultural heritage
and, at the same time, exchanging ideas across ostensibly dissimilar cultures.
The Ensemble has regularly commissioned new works from across a broad musical spectrum, including works by Zhao Jiping
and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, and is known for its series of interdisciplinary festivals and residencies presented in North America
, Europe
, and Asia
. They have performed in many locations along the historic Silk Road
, including Iran
, Armenia
, Azerbaijan
, Kazakhstan
, India
, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan
.
The Ensemble uses various instruments from the Silk Road
region, including a pipa
, a Chinese short-necked plucked lute; a duduk
, an Armenian double reed woodwind; a Shakuhachi
, a Japanese bamboo flute; and a morin khuur
, a Mongolian horse head fiddle; among many others.
In addition to Ma, performing members of the ensemble include:
Silk Road Ensemble composers and arrangers include:
. Silk Road Chicago was a partnership among the Silk Road Project, the Chicago
Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago
Office of Tourism, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and flow of ideas among different cultures along the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
. The Project encompasses a number of artistic, cultural and educational programs. It has been described as an "arts and educational organization that connects musicians, composers, artists and audiences around the world" and "an initiative to promote multicultural artistic collaboration."
The Project is involved in a two-year educational pilot program for middle-school students in New York City public schools. The program, called Silk Road Connect, focuses on passion-driven education through arts integration and is being developed with help from education experts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
The Harvard Graduate School of Education is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University, and is one of the top schools of education in the United States. It was founded in 1920, the same year it invented the Ed.D...
.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Silk Road Project presented performances and programs by the Silk Road Ensemble in North America, Asia and Europe from 2008 to 2010. Its anniversary season began with the Silk Road Ensemble's performance with Yo-Yo Ma of the United Nations Day
United Nations Day
In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly declared 24 October, the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, as which "shall be devoted to making known to the peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for" its work.In 1971 the...
Concert in October 2008. Tenth-anniversary activities also included a North American concert tour by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma in March 2009, which featured the North American premiere of Layla and Majnun, a chamber arrangement for the Silk Road Ensemble of a traditional Azerbaijani opera.
The organization has published a book, Along the Silk Road, and commissioned more than 60 new chamber music compositions. The Silk Road Project has also created educational materials entitled "Silk Road Encounters" and has partnered with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) to produce Along the Silk Road, a curriculum for students in grades six-10, and The Road to Beijing, a documentary made available with related lessons about Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. As of December 2008, the Silk Road Ensemble has recorded five CDs.
The Silk Road Project is affiliated with Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
; the organization moved its offices to the Harvard campus in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2010 at the outset of a renewed five-year affiliation with the University, designed to enable new artistic and cultural opportunities at Harvard and in surrounding communities. The Silk Road Project has been affiliated with both Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
in the USA, where the Silk Road Ensemble engaged with faculty and students in annual residencies. The Silk Road Project's partnership with Rhode Island School of Design took place from 2005 through 2010. As part of Silk Road Project programming, the Silk Road Ensemble has also been involved in short-term residencies at Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Switzerland; The Art Institute of Chicago; University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
; Rubin Museum of Art
Rubin Museum of Art
__notoc__The Rubin Museum of Art is a museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art of the Himalayas and surrounding regions, especially that of Tibet...
in New York City; Nara National Museum
Nara National Museum
The is one of the pre-eminent national art museums in Japan.-Introduction:The Nara National Museum is located in Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Katayama Tōkuma designed the original building, which is a representative Western-style building of the Meiji period and has been...
in Nara, Japan; and the Peabody Essex Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...
in Salem, Massachusetts.
At its height from the second century BCE until the 14th century, the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
was a vast network of trade routes that connected China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to the Mediterranean through Greater Iran
Greater Iran
Greater Iran refers to the regions that have significant Iranian cultural influence. It roughly corresponds to the territory on the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains, stretching from Iraq, the Caucasus, and Turkey in the west to the Indus River in the east...
. For centuries ideas, objects, and people traveled along the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
, making it one of the most fluid and broad arenas of exchange the world has known and a major conduit of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
. The name Silk Road Project serves as a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
of the cultural exchange of ideas envisioned by the project.
The Silk Road Ensemble
Musical collective
Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared. Such entities have transitioned from the traditional hierarchical configuration that features either a frontman , or a plurality of band members in tension for...
and a part of the Silk Road Project. The ensemble is not a fixed group of musicians, but rather a loose collective of as many as 60 musicians, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers from various Eurasian
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
cultures interested in maintaining the authenticity of their own cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
and, at the same time, exchanging ideas across ostensibly dissimilar cultures.
The Ensemble has regularly commissioned new works from across a broad musical spectrum, including works by Zhao Jiping
Zhao Jiping
Zhao Jiping is a Chinese composer from Shaanxi. He is best known for his film scores for the Fifth Generation Chinese director Zhang Yimou.Zhao studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.-Film scores:...
and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, and is known for its series of interdisciplinary festivals and residencies presented in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. They have performed in many locations along the historic Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
, including Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
.
The Ensemble uses various instruments from the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
region, including a pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
, a Chinese short-necked plucked lute; a duduk
Duduk
The duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
, an Armenian double reed woodwind; a Shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
, a Japanese bamboo flute; and a morin khuur
Morin khuur
The morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...
, a Mongolian horse head fiddle; among many others.
In addition to Ma, performing members of the ensemble include:
- Siamak Aghaei - santurSanturThe santur is a Persian hammered dulcimerIt is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut or different exotic woods. The Persian classical santur has 72 strings. The name santur was first referenced in ancient Persian poetry...
/composer - Edward Arron - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Jeffrey Beecher - double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Mike Block - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Nicholas Cords - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Gevorg DabaghyanGevorg DabaghyanGevorg G. Dabaghyan is a Armenian duduk player of folk music. In 1991 he founded the Shoghaken Folk Ensemble, a group of Armenian folk musicians and singers who specialize in traditional Armenian music....
- dudukDudukThe duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia... - Sandeep Das - tablaTablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
/composer - Joel FanJoel FanJoel Fan is a New York City–based pianist noted for his work with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, as well as his solo virtuosity and eclectic repertoire.-Life and career:...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Haruka Fujii - percussion
- Jonathan Gandelsman - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Joseph Gramley - percussion/composer
- Ben Haggarty - storyteller
- He Cui - shengShengSheng can refer to:* Sheng * Beijing opera#Sheng, the main role in Beijing opera* Sheng , a slang dialect of the Swahili language* Province , an administrative division of China, called sheng in Mandarin...
- Hu Jianbing - shengShengSheng can refer to:* Sheng * Beijing opera#Sheng, the main role in Beijing opera* Sheng , a slang dialect of the Swahili language* Province , an administrative division of China, called sheng in Mandarin...
, bawuBawuThe bawu is a Chinese wind instrument. Although shaped like a flute, it is actually a free reed instrument, with a single metal reed. It is played in a transverse manner... - Rauf Islamov - kamanchehKamanchehThe kamānche or kamāncha is a Persian bowed string instrument related to the bowed rebab, the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and also to the bowed lira of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of the European violin family. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow: the word "kamancheh"...
- Colin Jacobsen - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
/composer - Siamak Jahangiry - neyNeyThe ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found...
- Kayhan KalhorKayhan KalhorKayhan Kalhor , born 24 November 1963, is an Iranian kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish and Persian music.-Youth and studies:...
- kamanchehKamanchehThe kamānche or kamāncha is a Persian bowed string instrument related to the bowed rebab, the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and also to the bowed lira of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of the European violin family. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow: the word "kamancheh"...
/composer - KhongorzulKhongorzul- Life :Khongorzul was born in the Khentii Province. During adolescence she only sang for private entertainment. Then she auditioned for the Than Khentii Folk Ensemble and was accepted. From 1998 she studied at the University of Culture and Art in Ulan Bator. In the same year she won the first...
Ganbaatar - urtiin duu (long song) - Dong-Won Kim - janggo, vocals/composer
- Ji Huyun Kim - kayagum, vocals
- You-Young Kim - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Li Hui - pipaPipaThe pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
- Liu Lin - sanxianSanxianThe sanxian is a Chinese lute — a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snakeskin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a...
- Ali Asgar Mammadov - tarTarTar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
- Max Mandel - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Gulia Mashurova - harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
- Kevork Mourad - visual artist
- Cristina PatoCristina PatoCristina Pato is a bagpiper and pianist.The first female Galician bagpiper to record a solo album in Spain, she has released three albums as a solo bagpiper and collaborated in international tours with bands such as Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Ensemble, The Chieftains, Hevia, Tenerife Symphony Orchestra,...
- Galician bagpipe - Alim QasimovAlim QasimovAlim Qasimov is an Azerbaijani musician, and one of the foremost mugam singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of the highest international accolades for music. His music is characterised by his vocal improvisation and represents a move...
- mughamMughamMugam also known as Azerbaijani Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs. Mugam draws on Iranian-Arabic-Turkish Maqam....
vocals - Fargana Qasimova - mughamMughamMugam also known as Azerbaijani Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs. Mugam draws on Iranian-Arabic-Turkish Maqam....
vocals - Bassam Saba - oudOudThe oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
, neyNeyThe ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found...
/composer - Shane Shanahan - percussion/composer
- Mark Suter - percussion/composer
- Kojiro Umezaki - shakuhachiShakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
/composer - Wu ManWu ManWu Man is a Chinese pipa virtuoso and composer. Described as "the artist most responsible for bring the pipa to the Western World" by the Los Angeles Times, US-based, Chinese-born musician Wu Man has carved out a career creating and fostering projects that give this ancient Chinese instrument a...
- pipaPipaThe pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26... - Wu Tong - shengShengSheng can refer to:* Sheng * Beijing opera#Sheng, the main role in Beijing opera* Sheng , a slang dialect of the Swahili language* Province , an administrative division of China, called sheng in Mandarin...
, bawuBawuThe bawu is a Chinese wind instrument. Although shaped like a flute, it is actually a free reed instrument, with a single metal reed. It is played in a transverse manner...
/composer - Betti Xiang - erhuErhuThe erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
- Yang Wei - pipaPipaThe pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
- DaXun Zhang - double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
Silk Road Ensemble composers and arrangers include:
- Rabih Abou-KhalilRabih Abou-Khalil-Life:Rabih Abou-Khalil grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He lives part-time in Munich and part-time in the South of France with his wife and two children.-Music:...
- Christopher Adler
- Franghiz Ali-ZadehFranghiz Ali-ZadehFranghiz Ali-Zadeh is an Azerbaijani composer and pianist, currently living in Germany. She is best known for her works which combine the musical tradition of the Azerbaijani mugam and 20th century Western compositional techniques, especially those of Arnold Schönberg and Gara Garayev...
- Jia Daqun
- Gabriela Lena FrankGabriela Lena FrankGabriela Lena Frank is an American composer of contemporary classical music and pianist.- Biography :...
- Osvaldo GolijovOsvaldo GolijovOsvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
- Jee-Young Kim
- Angel Lam
- Alisher Latif-Zadeh
- Ljova (Lev ZhurbinLev ZhurbinLev 'Ljova' Zhurbin is a composer, violist, and arranger. Ljova is the author of over 70 original compositions for classical, jazz, and folk music ensembles. He has also contributed musical scores to numerous short and feature films.Ljova immigrated to the United States in 1990 and currently...
) - Nurlanbek Nyshanov
- Sansargereltekh SangidorjSansargereltekh SangidorjSansargereltekh Sangidorj is a Mongolian composer.Sangidorj had piano lessons as a child from his father, the composer Choigiv Sangidorj. He studied from 1977 to 1985 at the Music School of Ulaanbaatar, , studying piano with Nasanbat Lodoydamba and composition with Gonchigsumlaa Samba...
- Vache SharafyanVache SharafyanVache Sharafyan , is one of the most important living composers from Armenia. Author of a number of symphonic, chamber, vocal, choral compositions that were performed widely by many nowadays leading musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Yuri Bashmet, among others...
- Byambasuren SharavByambasuren SharavByambasuren Sharav is a Mongolian composer and pianist.Sharav learned as a child by his father to play the accordion. As a music teacher at an elementary school, he began to compose children's songs. From 1975 he studied at the Sverdlovsk Conservatory in the Soviet Union...
- Giovanni SollimaGiovanni SollimaGiovanni Sollima is an Italian composer and cellist. He was born into a family of musicians and studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and composition with his father, Eliodoro Sollima, at the Conservatorio di Palermo, where he graduated with highest honors...
- Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky
- Zhao JipingZhao JipingZhao Jiping is a Chinese composer from Shaanxi. He is best known for his film scores for the Fifth Generation Chinese director Zhang Yimou.Zhao studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.-Film scores:...
- Zhao Lin
- Evan ZiporynEvan ZiporynEvan Ziporyn is an American composer of post-minimalist music and music for Balinese gamelans. He plays the clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, and metallophone, borrowing from classical music, avant-garde, and jazz...
Silk Road Chicago
Silk Road Chicago was a yearlong, citywide celebration, from June 2006 to June 2007, with special events, performances, and exhibitions that explored cross-cultural discovery and celebrated the artistic legacy of the historic Silk RoadSilk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
. Silk Road Chicago was a partnership among the Silk Road Project, the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Office of Tourism, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, and The Art Institute of Chicago.