PBS Arts Presents the Television Premiere of The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma: Live From Tanglewood
Take a front-row seat to a milestone performance and get a behind-the-scenes look at Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble on Friday, May 9, 2014 (check local listings)
Boston, April 7, 2014 – On Friday, May 9, 2014, 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), PBS Arts invites viewers to embark on a musical journey around the world with the television premiere of The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma: Live From Tanglewood. This all-new one-hour concert film not only gives viewers a front-row seat to a milestone performance by The Silk Road Ensemble, but also dives deeper into the rich history of this “mobile musical think tank,” pioneered by world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Filmed as the group celebrated 15 years together with a summer concert at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts, this special takes viewers on a musical journey around the world using footage from the concert, background interviews, behind-the-scenes excerpts and magical offstage moments.
“The Silk Road Ensemble helps us to answer the question ‘Who are we and how do we fit in the world?’” says cellist Ma. “We came from hometowns around the globe, and what we found is that while we didn’t necessarily have histories in common, we did share a language of music and of culture. Our sense of coming together across time and geography is apparent on stage.”
This eclectic group brings together distinguished musicians, composers and performing artists from more than 20 countries to celebrate, explore and experiment with a wide variety of cultural approaches to musical performances. Founded on the basis of collaboration and risk-taking, their method of music-making is experimental and democratic, but also focuses on continual learning and sharing. The Silk Road Ensemble has performed to critical acclaim throughout Asia, Europe and North America, and recorded five albums.
“There’s no better musician to bring together an international group of like-minded musicians that can interact with one another and thrive in the unknown than Yo-Yo Ma,” says executive producer Laurie Donnelly. “This special also provides American audiences with never-before-seen interviews and brilliant musical collaborations that are the signature of The Silk Road Ensemble.”
For more information on The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma: Live From Tanglewood visit http://www.pbs.org/arts/programs/silk-road/
Production Credits/Funding
The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma: Live From Tanglewood is a production of BFMI in association with Sony Classical and is distributed by WGBH Boston. Executive Producer: Laurie Donnelly. Senior Program Producer: Anne Adams.
About WGBH Boston
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Curious George, and more than a dozen other prime-time, lifestyle, and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBH 44, and the digital channels World and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black, High School Quiz Show, and Neighborhood Kitchens. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH Boston Public Radio; 99.5 WCRB; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of programs for public radio (among them, PRI’s The World®), a leader in educational multimedia (including PBS LearningMedia™, providing the nation’s educators with free, curriculum-based digital content), and a pioneer in technologies and services that make media accessible to deaf, hard of hearing, blind, and visually impaired audiences. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards and Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.
About PBS Arts
The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma: Live From Tanglewood is part of the ongoing, multi-platform “PBS Arts” initiative, which highlights PBS’ commitment to the performing and visual arts, and gives millions of viewers a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the best music, theater, dance, art and cultural history programs on-air and online. For more information, www.pbs.org/arts.
About PBS
PBS, with its over 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 120 million people through television and over 29 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS’ premier children’s TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.
About The Silk Road Ensemble
The Silk Road Ensemble gathers distinguished performers and composers from more than 20 countries to explore contemporary multicultural musical crossroads. The group formed under the artistic direction of cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 2000. Called a “roving musical laboratory without walls” by the Boston Globe, the ensemble has performed to critical acclaim throughout Asia, Europe and North America and has recorded five albums. The group’s most recent CD, A Playlist Without Borders, and Live From Tanglewood DVD were released in September 2013. Learn more at www.silkroadproject.org.
