Silkroad Ensemble

Born in 1998 as part of the Silk Road Project launched in the United States by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Silkroad Ensemble brings together a variable collective of musicians, composers and storytellers from traditions across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Silkroad Ensemble explores the intersection of chamber music, traditional repertoires and contemporary creation, in a largely acoustic aesthetic that blends composed material, improvisation and oral transmission. The group does not rely on a fixed lineup but on collaborations among artists with diverse backgrounds, among them Wu Man, Kayhan Kalhor, Cristina Pato, Kinan Azmeh and Sandeep Das. After Silk Road Journey: When Strangers Meet (2001), Silkroad Ensemble continued this work with Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon (2005), New Impossibilities (2007), Off the Map (2009), A Playlist Without Borders (2013), Sing Me Home (2016), Falling Out of Time (2020) and American Railroad (2024). Present in residencies, festivals and tours across North America, Europe and Asia, Silkroad Ensemble’s trajectory was also documented in the film The Music of Strangers (2016). Since 2020, Silkroad’s artistic direction has been led by Rhiannon Giddens.