Tonight, Wednesday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m., in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma returns to Carnegie Hall to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Silk Road Project-an initiative aimed at promoting innovation and cross-cultural understanding through performance and the arts.
The Ensemble performs music inspired by traditions and innovations from around the world, and for their October 16 concert, offers the New York premieres of three new works-Playlist for an Extreme Occasion by Vijay Iyer, Suite from Book of Angels by John Zorn, and Cut the Rug by David Bruce. Other works on the program include Giovanni Sollima's The Taranta Project, Angel Lam's Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain (a
Carnegie Hall commission premiered in 2006) and Jia Daqun's The Prospect of Colored Desert.
In addition to their performance at
Carnegie Hall, The Silk Road Ensemble also celebrates its anniversary with the September 24 release a new CD, A Playlist Without Borders (Sony Masterworks), and DVD, Live From Tanglewood, as well as a West Coast tour beginning on October 20. The DVD, directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), features a Silk Road Ensemble performance filmed at Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with the musicians. For a look at the making of A Playlist Without Borders, click
here.
"The Silk Road Project's work consists of careful investigations, joining tradition with new knowledge and innovation. We have had the honor of collaborating with some of the world's best composers, and our commissioning workshops have had a remarkable record of producing successful works for our repertoire. Our creativity begins with play-exploring sounds, testing ideas-and I am delighted that this has allowed several of our performers to compose and arrange music for us as well. Above all, I am tremendously grateful for the opportunity to undertake this work, for the abiding friendships and partnerships we have developed along the way, and for the warm reception we have received from people all over the world," said
Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Project Founder and Artistic Director.
The Silk Road Ensemble draws together distinguished performers and composers from more than 20 countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Since its founding under the artistic direction of
Yo-Yo Ma in 2000, the ensemble's innovative artists have eagerly explored contemporary musical crossroads. The Seattle Times praised the result as "a cornucopia of musical ideas...featuring instrumental and vocal artists of almost unimaginable virtuosity," and The Boston Globe has called the group "a kind of roving musical laboratory without walls." The ensemble's approach is experimental and democratic, founded on collaboration and risk taking, on continual learning and sharing among a kaleidoscope of cultures and art forms. Members explore one another's traditions, celebrating the multiplicity of approaches to music from around the world. They also develop new repertoire that responds to the multicultural reality of our global society. As The Los Angeles Times has said, "The Silk Road Ensemble's vision of internation
Al Cooperation is not what we read in our daily news reports. Theirs is the better world available if we, like these extraordinary musicians, agree to make it one." The Silk Road Ensemble has performed to critical acclaim throughout Asia, Europe and North America and has recorded five albums. The most recent, Off the Map, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2011.
The Silk Road Project is an internationally minded performing arts nonprofit with cultural and educational missions to promote innovation and learning through the arts. Cellist
Yo-Yo Ma founded the Project in 1998, taking inspiration from the historical Silk Road trading routes and using the Silk Road as a modern metaphor for sharing and learning across cultures, art forms, and disciplines. Under the artistic direction of Mr. Ma and the leadership of CEO and Executive Director Laura Freid, The Silk Road Project acts as an imagination platform, encouraging dialogue among artists and musicians, educators and entrepreneurs. The Project presents performances by the acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble, holds cross-cultural exchanges and residencies, leads workshops for students, and partners with prominent cultural institutions to create educational programs and materials. Silk Road Connect, the Project's multidisciplinary arts-integrated approach to education, works with students and teachers to inspire passion-driven learning. Developing new music is a central undertaking of The Silk Road Project, which has been involved in commissioning and performing more than 70 new musical and multimedia works from composers and arrangers from around the world.
Program Information
Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE with Yo-Yo MaYo-Yo Ma, Artistic Director
JOHN ZORN Suite from Book of Angels (NY Premiere)
ANGEL LAM Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain
VIJAY IYER Playlist for an Extreme Occasion (NY Premiere)
GIOVANNI SOLLIMA The Taranta Project
JIA DAQUN The Prospect of Colored Desert
DAVID BRUCE Cut the Rug (NY Premiere)
Tickets, priced $41-$125, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.
For
Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are
Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the
Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.
In addition, for all
Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit
carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs and prices are subject to change.
