Winners of a 2017 Grammy Award, the Silk Road Ensemble has been called “vibrant and virtuosic” by the Wall Street Journal, “one of the 21st century’s great ensembles” by the Vancouver Sun, and “a roving musical laboratory without walls” by the Boston Globe. For the Freer|Sackler’s reopening celebration, this adventuresome ensemble will perform on Chinese winds and erhu (fiddle), Japanese percussion, jazz drums, violin, viola, and double bass, incorporating musical traditions from across Asia and the Middle East.
Wu Tong is an electrifying virtuoso on Chinese flutes and sheng (mouth organ) who has appeared with the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and premiered Zhao Lin’s double concerto written for him and Yo-Yo Ma. Violist Nicholas Cords is a founding member of both the Silk Road Ensemble and the pathbreaking group Brooklyn Rider. Violinist and erhu (Chinese fiddle) artist Shaw Pong Liu teaches at the New England Conservatory and is a founding member of Play for Justice, a group of Boston artists supporting social reforms.
Bassist Jeffrey Beecher is a veteran of the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival who has performed at Bargemusic, Weill Recital Hall, and 92Y. Percussionist Haruka Fujii has appeared as a soloist with the orchestras of Munich, Sydney, and Lyon, and Japan’s NHK. Percussionist Shane Shanahan has a background in jazz, rock, and classical music. He has accompanied musical artists Bobby McFerrin, Aretha Franklin, Philip Glass, and Alison Krauss, among many others.