The Silkroad Ensemble

“Silk Road Ensemble” by Payton Chung is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Eurasian Global Music Ensemble • Conceived in 1998 • Classical, Jazz, Folk

Fast Facts

• Silkroad Ensemble was conceived by Yo-Yo Ma in 1998 and is currently led by Rhiannon Giddens.
• Yo-Yo Ma saw the historical Silk Road as an example of “cultural collaboration” and wanted to demonstrate that through music.
• There are 20 countries represented by the performers of Silkroad Ensemble, including Syria, Japan, Scotland, Mali, Spain, and China.
• They became a Grammy Award-winning ensemble in 2016 when their album, Sing Me Home, won for Best World Music Album.
• Many different instruments are used in their performances, including the pipa, tabla, violin, clarinet, oud, kemancheh, and balafon.
• Silkroad Ensemble is a group of up to 59 musicians who perform in different combinations for different projects.
• The musicians in Silkroad Ensemble consist of those who have been classically trained as well as those who come from oral tradition and have never learned to read music.
• In addition to performing, Silkroad Ensemble has a group of artists who are also educators, producers, and advocates who seek to create positive social change by working with students in underserved communities.