Silk Road Project Inc

SILKROAD CREATES MUSIC THAT ENGAGES DIFFERENCE, SPARKING RADICAL CULTURAL COLLABORATION AND PASSION-DRIVEN LEARNING TO BUILD A MORE HOPEFUL WORLD.

PHOENIX RISING - AS SILKROAD'S FIRST ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF RHIANNON GIDDENS, PHOENIX RISING IS A CONCERT SERIES THAT SERVES 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 FROM THE PANDEMIC. THIS PROGRAM FEATURES A CROSS-SECTION OF SILKROAD'S AWARD-WINNING COMPOSITIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS; FOUR MAJOR NEW COMMISSIONS BY SHAWN CONLEY, SANDEEP DAS, MAEVE GILCHRIST, AND KAORU WATANABE; AND NEW ARRANGEMENTS BY RHIANNON GIDDENS, COLIN JACOBSEN, EDWARD PÉREZ, AND MAZZ SWIFT. SILKROAD DEBUTED PHOENIX RISING AT THE AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER'S LOEB DRAMA CENTER IN NOVEMBER 2021, FOLLOWED BY SPRING PERFORMANCES IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA AND BILBAO, SPAIN.

GENERAL PROGRAMS

GMW - SILKROAD'S GLOBAL MUSICIAN WORKSHOP (GMW) IS AN INTENSIVE MUSICIAN TRAINING PROGRAM MODELED AFTER THE UNIQUE INCEPTION OF THE SILKROAD ENSEMBLE THAT FOSTERS A COMMUNITY OF GLOBALLY-MINDED MUSICIANS THROUGH WORKSHOPS THAT EXPLORE AND ENGAGE WITH MUSICAL GENRES, STYLES, AND TRADITIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. GMW 2021 WAS HOSTED ONLINE, WITH GMW FACULTY ARTISTS STREAMING LIVE FROM CAMPUS AT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY IN BOSTON, MA. IN ADDITION TO THE VIRTUAL PROGRAM, SILKROAD PRESENTED THE GMW ONLINE PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL ON THE FINAL TWO EVENINGS OF THE EVENT, FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY GMW FACULTY, PARTICIPANTS, AND SPECIAL GUESTS LIKE ANGELIQUE KIDJO, SPEECH, AND JAKE SHIMABUKURO. GMW 2021 BROUGHT TOGETHER 169 PARTICIPANTS FROM 38 COUNTRIES PLAYING OVER 40 DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS.

HOME WITHIN - HOME WITHIN IS AN EMOTIONAL ACCOUNTING OF HOME IN A TIME OF CONFLICT. AN AUDIO-VISUAL PERFORMANCE CONCEIVED BY SYRIAN COMPOSER AND CLARINETIST KINAN AZMEH AND SYRIAN ARMENIAN VISUAL ARTIST KEVORK MOURAD, THE RESULT IS AN IMPRESSIONISTIC REFLECTION ON THE UNITY OF LOSS, LONGING, AND THE IMPACT OF TRAGEDY ON OUR SENSE OF 'HOME'.' RATHER THAN FOLLOW A NARRATIVE, THE ARTISTS DOCUMENT 'HOME' WITHIN SPECIFIC MOMENTS IN SYRIA'S RECENT HISTORY, USING THE COUNTERPOINT BETWEEN IMAGE AND SOUND TO ESTABLISH A SENSE OF SUSTAINED URGENCY AND CONTINUED HOPE FOR BOTH THEIR HOMELAND AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD. HOME WITHIN WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED AS A DUO COLLABORATION IN 2013; IT HAS SINCE TAKEN ON A NEW LIFE AS A LARGE-SCALE COLLABORATION WITH SILKROAD.