The Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop kicks off this August with its first dual Boston-Hangzhou performances, welcoming musicians from around the world to both historic cities.
“Hosting it for the first time (in the Chinese city) is challenging, but I’m looking forward to our presentation in Hangzhou this year. I hope to introduce this free and creative motivated music education to China,” Silkroad’s pipa player, Wu Man, told the Sampan in a video call from China this week. Man has been on faculty with the group founded by famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma since its start and spearheaded the launch of the workshop in Hangzhou, her hometown.
This marks the first event in the Chinese city in the 26-year history of Silkroad and in the 9-year history of the workshop program. The week-long program runs Aug. 4 to 10 in Boston and will welcome students from around the world to participate in workshops and concerts with Silkroad artists at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. An opening concert is set for Aug. 6, followed by daily concerts from Aug. 7 to 10. The Hangzhou program is from Aug. 26-31 at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music.
“Music is not isolated; the world is connected, and so are we,” said Wu Man, adding that “It’s interesting to see how various instruments with the same origins develop their own paths under different cultural influences, cooperating, sharing, and learning from each other.”
The program is built around the founding of Silkroad as a way of creating new musical conversations across different cultures. The idea is that participants from all over the world can come and immerse themselves in multiple musical languages by collaborating directly with the faculty, according to cellist Mike Block, the director of the program. This year’s show, for example, includes a group of participants from West Africa’s Sierra Leone, who play traditional African music together.
“What’s exciting is the faculty is diverse and unique, but the participants, by sheer numbers, are even more diverse and unique,” said Block in a phone interview with the Sampan.
Sixty-eight musicians were selected from a pool of 218 applicants, representing 28 countries and 32 instruments—more than in any previous year.
“Obviously we’re looking for great musicians who are really captivating artists and performers, but a big part of it is that we want to see people who are already doing things outside of their original style. We want to see people who are already making the effort to do cross-cultural collaborations and already have some experience in this territory because it’s a unique environment,” added Block.
Participants are assigned to different faculties and collaborate as bands. Unpredictable jams happen every day and night, with the focus on making connections with different musicians and collaborating for musical chemistry.
“I once saw a group with three cellos, a pipa, a piano, and a Turkish string instrument. This combination was very challenging. We ended up performing ‘The Love Song of Kangding,’ a traditional folk song from southern China. The students were very creative, and the stage performance was fantastic. They even added vocal performances, which was a new experience for them,” Wu Man recalled, smiling.
All of the participants get a chance to know each other and play music together, noted Block, who added that new touring bands have been created out of people meeting at the workshop. They then go on to play together for years and even end up record albums together.
“I think what we’re trying to do is change people’s lives with the idea that you can learn about the world through music and feel connected to the whole world through music,” said Block. “Through that process, by learning different languages and working with different people, musicians learn more about themselves and their own musical voice. It’s like connecting the outside world to the inside voice for every artist.”
Wu added that with the expansion into China, she hopes “we continue to reach other parts of the world.”
