Starting in Fall 2017, the College of the Holy Cross and Silkroad Ensemble entered into an exciting multi-year partnership — an exploration of the roles that passion and art can play in learning.
About Silkroad
Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, Silkroad creates music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration and passion-driving learning to build a more hopeful world. The musicians of the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble represent dozens of artistic traditions and nationalities, and appear in many configurations and settings. Silkroad musicians are also teachers, producers, and advocates. Creation of music is central to Silkroad's mission. New artistic work is being developed alongside and embedded into learning programs and residencies, creating space for connection, conversation, and understanding in the communities where they work. Over twenty years, Silkroad has commissioned 80 new works by more than 20 composers from 20 countries, performing live around the globe. Learn more »
Silkroad Ensemble's multi-year residency at the College of the Holy Cross is supported by Trudie and Cornelius B. Prior, Jr., Esq. '56.
Upcoming Events
Spring 2020 Residency
January 25-30, 2020
Featuring Silkroad artists:
Sandeep Das, tabla
Haruka Fujii, percussion
Joseph Gramley, percussion
Edward Pérez, composer
Shane Shanahan, percussion, Lead Teaching Artist, Co-Artistic Director
Mark Suter, percussion
Kaoru Watanabe, Taiko drums and Japanese flutes
Silkroad Ensemble: Percussion All-Stars
January 28, 2020
7:30 P.M. | Brooks Concert Hall
Silkroad's three-year exploration of curiosity, difference, and the arts at Holy Cross continues with a concert that will explore the rich history and creativity that exists within the percussion world. Experience instruments, rhythms, and melodies from along the Silk Road and beyond, including Japan, India, Central Asia, the Middle East, Peru, Cuba, Africa, and America. In an evening highlighting the percussionists of the Silkroad Ensemble, get to know the artists and the works they've selected in the intimate Brooks Concert Hall. The performance will also feature a new work commissioned by Silkroad and written by composer, arranger, and bassist extraordinaire, Edward Pérez.
Tickets $20 general / $10 Holy Cross faculty & staff / $5 students / $5 EBT and WIC cardholders
Purchase here (processing fees may apply)
Listen & Watch
Heroes Take Their Stands - Haruka Fujii and Kaoru Watanabe play dueling Taiko drums
Shristi - Performance by Sandeep Das, Shane Shanahan, Joseph Gramley, and Mark Suter
Past Events
Fall 2019 Residency
September 23-30, 2019
Featuring Silkroad artists:
Haruka Fujii, percussion
Maeve Gilchrist, Celtic harp
Edward Perez, bass
Shane Shanahan, percussion, Lead Teaching Artist, Co-Artistic Director
Preeti Vasudevan, dance
Kaoru Watanabe, Taiko drums and Japanese flutes
See photos from the Fall '19 residency
Community Jam Session with Silkroad Ensemble
September 24, 2019
6:30 pm | Worcester PopUp (20 Franklin St., downtown Worcester)
Calling all community musicians with diverse musical and cultural traditions! Join us for a free-flowing evening of music making and cultural exchange with members of Silkroad. We encourage you to bring along a simple tune from your tradition you'd like to share, but you are welcome to just show up with your instrument and join in!
Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, Silkroad creates music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration and passion-driving learning to build a more hopeful world. The musicians of the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble represent dozens of artistic traditions and nationalities, and appear in many configurations and settings.
FREE | Open to the public. A reception with light refreshments will follow.
Lunchtime Concert: Silkroad Ensemble
September 27, 2019
12:30 pm | Hogan Oval (Rain location: Brooks Concert Hall)
As part of the Festival of the Arts at Holy Cross, a day of arts immersion for high school students from Worcester Public Schools
FREE | Open to the public
ANNOUNCING A WORLD PREMIERE
'Falling Out of Time,' a song cycle by Osvaldo Golijov
October 31, 2019
7:30 pm | Brooks Concert Hall
Three years ago, Osvaldo Golijov sat down on a park bench in Tel Aviv to read David Grossman's Falling Out of Time. Part play, part poem, part fable, the book narrates a journey "out of time" as parents grieve the death of their child, a quest to comprehend a loss with no name.
Osvaldo Golijov's exquisite and nuanced interpretation of the story portrays a musical, mythical walk that traverses vast and varied emotional landscapes to finally arrive at a place where breathing is again possible. Drawing on David's powerful text, Osvaldo has conceived this song cycle for the Silkroad Ensemble, the collective whose delicacy of musical expression he describes as like "a harp of a thousand hairs."
Workshops for Falling Out of Time began in Fall 2017 as part of Silkroad's multi-year residency at Holy Cross. This performance marks the world premiere of Falling Out of Time, which will be followed by a national tour. Learn more
SPRING 2019 RESIDENCY
January 21-25, 2019
Featuring Silkroad artists:
Kinan Azmeh, clarinet
Shawn Conley, bass
Nicholas Cords, viola and Co-Artistic Director
Nora Fischer, vocals
Jeremy Flower, electronics
Johnny Gandelsman, violin
Karen Ouzounian, cello
Shane Shanahan, percussion, Lead Teaching Artist and Co-Artistic Director
Mazz Swift, violin
Wu Man, pipa
Wu Tong, vocals and sheng
An Evening with Silkroad, featuring Golijov's 'Falling Out of Time'
Work-in-Progress
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
7:30 pm | Brooks Concert Hall
Jam Session with Silkroad
Thursday, January 24, 2019
6 - 8:30 pm | Worcester PopUp, 20 Franklin St, Worcester
Calling all community musicians with diverse musical and cultural traditions! Join us for a free-flowing evening of music making and cultural exchange with members of Silkroad. We encourage you to bring along a simple tune from your tradition you'd like to share, but you are also welcome to just show up with your instrument and join in! This is a FREE event, open to the public.
FALL 2018 RESIDENCY
September 17-20, 2018
Featuring Silkroad artists:
Kinan Azmeh, clarinet
Kevork Mourad, visual art
Danny Mekonnen, saxophone
Hadi Eldebek, oud
Cristina Pato, Galician bagpipes
Shane Shanahan, percussion
Mazz Swift, violin
An Evening with Silkroad, featuring 'Home Within'
Thursday, September 20, 2018
7:30 pm | Seelos Theater