Silk Road Project Performances Museum of Islamic Art In Doha, Qatar November 22-23, 2008

November 22, 2008

Museum of Islamic Art - Inaugural Concert

To celebrate the opening of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble will perform a diverse program of music from the Silk Road consisting of original works from Azerbaijan, Egypt, China, Iran, and Lebanon.

November 23, 2008

Layla and Majnun Multimedia Performance - World Premiere

In the second of two performances as part of the opening festivities for the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble will perform the world premiere of its multimedia chamber arrangement of Layla and Majnun, the classic Azerbaijani opera based on an Arabic love story, known and beloved throughout Central Asia. In Azerbaijan, a version of the tale by the poet Fuzuli (1480-1562) was adapted by composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov as an opera and first staged in 1908. It has been performed and recorded to enthusiastic audiences ever since.

The Qatar Museums Authority commissioned the Silk Road Project, under the artistic direction of Yo-Yo Ma, to create a multimedia chamber arrangement of the opera, incorporating mugham, a complex musical tradition from Azerbaijan, and instrumentation from Asian and Western traditions. The Doha premiere will feature performances by Alim Qasimov, a renowned Azeri vocalist and the leading performer of Layla and Majnun in Azerbaijan in the past two decades, and his daughter Fargana Qasimova, an accomplished mugham vocalist. The Silk Road Ensemble’s arrangement of ‘Layla and Majnun’ was also made possible in part by the generous support of the Académie Musicale de Villecroze.

The Silk Road Project

is a not-for-profit artistic, cultural and educational organization founded in 1998 with a vision of connecting the world’s neighborhoods by bringing together artists and audiences around the globe. Under the artistic direction of Yo-Yo Ma and led by CEO and executive director Laura Freid, the Silk Road Project takes inspiration from the historical Silk Road trading route as a modern metaphor for multicultural and interdisciplinary exchange.

The Silk Road Ensemble

is a collective of internationally renowned musicians, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers from more than 20 countries. Each Ensemble member’s career illustrates a unique response to what is one of the artistic challenges of our times: nourishing global connections while maintaining the integrity of art rooted in authentic tradition. The Silk Road Ensemble has recorded four albums and performed to critical acclaim throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

The many-faceted career of cellist Yo-Yo Ma is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Mr. Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras worldwide and his recital and chamber music activities. His discography includes over 75 albums, including 16 Grammy award winners. One of Mr. Ma’s goals is the investigation of music as a means of communication and as a vehicle for the migration of ideas; in 1998, he established the Silk Road Project to promote the study of cultural, artistic and intellectual traditions along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.