Francesco Turrisi has been defined as a “musical alchemist” and a “musical polyglot." He has released five critically acclaimed albums as a leader and two as co-leader (“Tarab” a cross boundary innovative ensemble that blends Irish and Mediterranean traditional music, and “Zahr” a project that looks at connections between southern Italian traditional music and Arabic music).Here, we interview Francesco about his projects, inspiration, work with Silkroad, and more!
Read MoreEdinburgh born harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) Harp to new levels of performance and visibility. Maeve tours internationally as a solo artist and maintains a variety of projects. Her most recent independently-released album, The Harpweaver, was described by the Irish Times as “buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling….a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game.” Maeve is the co-music director of the WGBH holiday show, a Christmas Celtic sojourn, and the co-artistic director of the brand new Rockport Celtic Music festival – an innovative new festival focused on cross-curation and the outer-fringes of Celtic Music. Here, we interview Hadi about his projects, inspiration, work with Silkroad, and more!
Read MorePura Fé (Tuscarora/Taino) is an Indigenous activist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller known for her soulful vocals and blending of musical genres. As a musician, she has performed globally at festivals, benefits, and in classrooms. Her activism focuses on combating Native cultural erasure, restoring traditions, building community, fighting corporate land takeovers, and addressing social injustices. A founding member of the acclaimed Native Women’s a cappella trio Ulali, she has bridged Native music to the mainstream. Her solo career includes six studio albums, with notable awards such as the Grand Prix du Disque and a Native American Music Award. Pura Fé and Ulali also contributed to the Sundance-winning documentary RUMBLE: The Indians That Rocked The World. Currently residing in Canada, she is writing a film for Rezolution Pictures, collaborating with First Nations dance and theater groups, and recording a new album.
Read MoreHailed as a “virtuoso” and "intensely soulful" by the New York Times and "spellbinding" by the New Yorker, Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based, genre-bending composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh has been touring the globe with great acclaim as a soloist, composer, and improviser. He has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, John McLaughlin, and Djivan Gasparian, among others and leads his own bands Hewar and Kinan Azmeh CityBand. He is a Silkroad Ensemble artist with whom he won a Grammy in 2016. His recent orchestral album Uneven Sky won Germany’s OpusKlassik Award in 2019.
Read MoreRecognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso, Wu Man is a soloist, educator, and composer who gives her lute-like instrument—which has a history of more than 2,000 years in China—a new role in both traditional and contemporary music.
She was the first Chinese traditional musician to receive the United States Artist Fellowship (2008) and the first artist from China to perform at the White House. In 2013, she was named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year and in 2021 she received an honorary Doctorate of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music. She is a Visiting Professor at her alma mater the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and a Distinguished Professor at the Zhejiang and the Xi’an Conservatories.
Read MoreMike Block is a pioneering cello player, singer, composer, and educator, hailed by Yo- Yo Ma as the "ideal musician of the 21st-Century". Passionate about cross-cultural collaboration through music, Mike is committed to inspiring individuals and connecting communities.
As an innovator, Mike is among the first wave of cellists to adopt a strap in order to stand and move while playing. With The Block Strap, Mike was the first standing cellist to perform at Carnegie Hall. The NY Times characterized the performance as, "Breathless ... Half dance, half dare." As an educator, Mike is passionate about creativity and collaboration, and is the founding director of Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop, and the Mike Block String Camp.
Read MoreEdinburgh born harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) Harp to new levels of performance and visibility. Maeve tours internationally as a solo artist and maintains a variety of projects. Her most recent independently-released album, The Harpweaver, was described by the Irish Times as “buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling….a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game.” Maeve is the co-music director of the WGBH holiday show, a Christmas Celtic sojourn, and the co-artistic director of the brand new Rockport Celtic Music festival – an innovative new festival focused on cross-curation and the outer-fringes of Celtic Music. Here, we interview Hadi about his projects, inspiration, work with Silkroad, and more!
Read MoreOud player Hadi Eldebek is a musician and cultural entrepreneur based in New York City. Hadi is the artistic director of The Brooklyn Nomads, a cross-cultural band rooted in Arabic music traditions, as well as the co-founder of startups grantPA — a tool for artists to find grants and other opportunities — and Circle World Arts — a platform to learn about the world arts. His TED talk, discussing the importance of funding the arts and artists, has gone viral with more than 1.3 million views. Here, we interview Hadi about his projects, inspiration, work with Silkroad, and more!
Read MoreA 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, Sandeep Das has established himself as one of India’s top-most tabla players. He is a prolific performer, composer, and educator, and has recorded over 30 albums. Sandeep is also the founder of HUM (Harmony and Universality Through Music), an Indian nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting global understanding through the power of the arts. Here, we interview Sandeep about his current projects, inspiration, work with Silkroad, and more!
Read MoreQ&A with Mazz Swift
Mazz Swift is a composer, conductor, singer, bandleader, educator, and Juilliard-trained violinist and has performed on many of the world's greatest stages. In addition to her appointments as a Carnegie Hall Teaching artist and Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Mazz was most recently named a United States Artist Fellow. Here, we interview Mazz about her current projects, inspiration, work with Silkroad, and more!
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