GERMANY: CELLO PLAYER YO-YO MA PERFORMS SILK ROAD PROJECT " CONCERT OF WESTERN AND EASTERN MUSIC AND INSTRUMENTS AT SCHLESWIG MUSIC FESTIVAL

Record ID: 391806

  • Title: GERMANY: CELLO PLAYER YO-YO MA PERFORMS SILK ROAD PROJECT " CONCERT OF WESTERN AND EASTERN MUSIC AND INSTRUMENTS AT SCHLESWIG MUSIC FESTIVAL
  • Date: 18th August 2001
  • Summary: FARGAU, GERMANY (AUGUST 18, 2001) (REUTERS) SCU SOUNDBITE (English) YO YO MA, SAYING: " We look for musicians who not only know their traditions very well, but who are interested in how that tradition expresses itself in the contemporary world or in other regions. So I think talent and people with wide open ears and people who are generous who want to share what they know
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: FARGAU, GERMANY AND WOTERSEN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVAHZM65MKXPL3TPLDQVG7NP57B
  • Story Text: Renowned cello player Yo-Yo Ma is currently attending the annual Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in northern Germany where he introduced his latest work, the "Silk Road Project," on Wednesday.
    Yo-yo Ma, winner of ten Grammy Awards and also known for his solo cello performance in the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," is actively involved in promoting young talent with projects such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
    Born in Paris in 1955 to Chinese parents, Ma started playing cello at the age of four. The Harvard graduate later performed at such events as the handover ceremony of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
    Ma's current attendance at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival coincides with the world premiere of his latest achievement, "Silk Road Project."
    The work of music will introduce a number of compositions and already existing pieces of composers from east and west, using western and eastern instruments commonly used in the countries along the Silk Road. Silk Road is a form of globalization, there has been globalization at many other times in history, Ma told Reuters.
    I think by looking at what happened in the past, it gives us possible answers about the future. It is an interesting time to think about those questions and I think one thing that I have always felt strongly about, yes, classical music is rooted in one place, in localities, but obviously the content of what it tries to express is so much bigger than ourselves, he added.
    During the first millennium before Christ up till the middle of the second millennium after Christ a wide network of sales routes called the Silk Road combined people and cultures from Asia and Europe.
    At its peak the Silk Road led from eastern China to Japan and through Central Asia to Persia, Turkey and Italy and was a melting pot for cultural innovation and the exchange of ideas.
    Its interesting because musicians have always travelled and when you travel, you bring stories from one place to another, you bring instruments from one place to another and we can actually observe those influences, whether its Persian music, classical music, turkish music, Ottoman court music, and European music -- you actually have a lot more commonalities at a specific time, Ma said.
    I think that's interesting to figure that out and know that that's part of our common history, he added.
    The Silk Road Project is will be performed for two years in Central Asia, Japan, North America and Europe. The conclusion of the tour is planned for 2003 in Italy.
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