SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE CONCERT!

Red Pants for the World is partnering with Silk Road Institute/Silk Road Ensemble for A Musical Journey Along the Silk Road.

On August 8, 2009, master musicians representing the Middle East, Central and East Asia, the Caucasus and Europe will converge in Bloomington for the 17th Annual Silk Road Festival.

This year’s festival is titled “Undiscovered Treasure: Masters of their Crafts” and will take the audience on a “Mystic Journey” with featured artist, Iranian master of the Setar, Jalal Zolfanoon.

Dr. Shahyar Daneshgar, Silk Road Ensemble and Silk Road Institute director and co-founder of the Lotus World Music Festival, yearly assembles some of the greatest living masters of traditional instruments to transport audience members to lands marveled at by Marco Polo. Dr. Daneshgar is an Indiana University faculty member and musician trained in the Tehran classical conservatory.

Silk Road music reflects a millennia of cultural exchange between East and West. You might identify hints of Spanish flamenco or Gregorian chant in the complex rhythms. The instruments on stage will reflect the cross-fertilization of cultures: some resembling violins, others close to lutes and tambourines. Some singers imitate nightingales, and others are able to simultaneously produce different tones in the throat.

Each year the Silk Road Festival highlights a master performer from one country. On this occasion, we proudly present Master Jalal Zolfonoon, the Iranian setar virtuoso, whose name is as famous as that of Ravi Shankar, in the domain of Persian classical and mystical music. The eminent Mr. Zolfonoon singlehandedly brought the setar back to prominence in Iran after cultural and artistic restrictions imposed following the 1979 Revolution, and recorded the best-selling Iranian folk album to date, “Flower of 100 Petals”.

Just returning from his latest international tour, Mr. Zolfonoon will be joined by his son, another famed Persian classical musician, and the usual line-up of talented ensemble artists from Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, India, Russia, Afghanistan, and more. These artists will also offer a public lecture entitled “The Musical Traditions of the Silk Road Peoples” on the evening of Friday, 31 July from 7 to 8:30 p.m., in Ballantine Room 109, and a workshop on “The Classical Music of the East” on Saturday, 8 August.

This year’s concert also marks the launch of the Silk Road Institute, a non-profit organization advancing education about the arts and culture of the Silk Road regions.

The concert is scheduled for Saturday, August 8 2009, at 5:30pm in the auditorium of the First Presbyterian Church, 221 E. 6th Street, Bloomington, Indiana. Tickets are available at all Bloomingfoods locations and are $5 in advance, or $7 at the door. IU students with ID are admitted free.

Please see www.silkroadensemble.com for more information, or contact Dr. Shahyar Daneshgar at 812-322-4702, or Administrative Director Sarah Forbey at 202-306-7234 or sarah@silkroadensemble.com