Silkroad Up Close: Kinan Azmeh, Maeve Gilchrist, and Kaoru Watanabe

Yo-Yo Ma founded Silkroad in 1998 with the aim of bringing together musicians from the lands of the Silk Road to co-create a new artistic idiom: a musical language founded in difference, a metaphor for the benefits of a more connected world.

Today, the collective is under the leadership of Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, and continues to create music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration and passion-driven learning.

Silkroad Up Close brings together three extraordinary musicians from seemingly distant musical worlds: Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh, Scottish harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist, and Japanese flutist, percussionist, and composer Kaoru Watanabe. Together, they traverse the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, weaving Celtic harp, Japanese flutes and percussion, clarinet, improvisation, and contemporary composition into a singular musical conversation.

Each artist has pushed their instrument into new territory, collaborating across genres and traditions with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Esperanza Spalding, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, and André 3000. In this intimate Silkroad collaboration, three distinct voices meet in real time—finding unexpected points of connection, dramatic contrast, and playful virtuosity to create something entirely new.

A Grammy Award-winning collective built around the idea that great beauty can emerge from great difference, Silkroad brings artists and traditions together to spark radical collaboration. Silkroad Up Close is a chance to experience that spirit on a smaller, more intimate scale: three world-class musicians listening, responding, improvising, and discovering where their musical worlds meet.

Event Sponsors: Gina Browning & Joe Illick