May 24, 2006

Compiled by Simin H. Rasmussen

In celebration of the cultures of the Silk Road, city of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Symphony and Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project along with more than 70 cultural Partners have joined forces to provide Chicagoans and visitors to the city a unique year long experience >>> www.SilkRoadChicago.org

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago Office of Tourism invite all Chicagoans and visitors to participate in Silk Road Chicago: Summer 2006, a citywide celebration from June 1 to September 30, offering more than 250 events in music, theater, dance, and visual and culinary arts presented by over 70 cultural and community partners throughout the city.

From June 1 to September 30, Chicagoans and visitors can enjoy events such as The Silk Road Staged Reading Series a showcase presented by The Silk Road Theatre Project featuring work by playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean descent; Music Without Borders a new three-concert series featuring artists from around the globe that previews the World Music Festival; The Chicago Cultural Center's Summer Opera: Mozart's The Magic Flute a four-day production that draws from the Sanskrit Theater of India as well as Balinese theater styles; and Dance India: Choreographing Traditions a new dance festival and conference presented by Natya Dance Theatre including performances by leading dance artists and musicians from India and dance workshops led by Indian masters.  Many events are free and fun for the entire family.

The centerpiece event of Silk Road Chicago
Summer 2006 is a free concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on June 26 at 6:30 p.m.  Musicians from all over the world will play familiar and exotic instruments in a concert of works from both Asia and the West.

Iranian Culture and Music will be part of the Summer programs in the city of Chicago. Iran House of Greater Chicago has joined forces as one of the cultural partners and will present a program each month to celebrate Iranian culture and Persian heritage as part of the Silk Road events. " Here is a list of programs planned by Iran House of Greater Chicago, a cultural and community service organization.

Rojan,  Kurdish & Persian Music Concert  on Sunday June 4th, 2006 - 6:00PM at NEIU Auditorium, 3701 Bryn Mawr. Rojan was born in Kurdestan, a land with the pain and wounds as ancient as its history, whose music beats the joyous rhythm of the valiant heartbeat of its inhabitants.

Mongols in Persia: A Silk Road Connection, Sunday, June 25, 3-5 p.m.
A presentation by Rami Yelda, Columbia College, 1104 South Wabash Center. 1104 South Wabash, Chicago. Discuss the intermingling of cultures through the Silk Road with Iranian-born Chicagoan Dr. Rami Yelda who has traveled the four corners of Iran as did once Marco Polo. Through slides of his travels and stories, Dr. Yelda makes the culture of Iran available to the newcomer.

Fluent in the Turkic and Persian languages spoken in the countries forming the Silk Road, he has recently authored the book A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited based on his dialogue with Iranians of many ethnic and regional backgrounds, as well as a good grounding in Iran's history.

Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been- New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora - Edited by Persis M. Karim . Foreword by Al Young A powerful literary view of Iranian culture and its influences on July 11, 2006 at 7:30PM. at 5233 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60640. Women and Children First Bookstore. The anthology  includes the work of more experienced and published writers such as Tara Bahrampour and Azadeh Moaveni, but also a younger generation of  writers who are grappling with a new level of issues and experiences in the post-9/11 world.

Journey Along the Silk Road: The Sound of Persian Santour highlights Kiu Haghighi and the sound of Santour on Friday, August 18th, 2006 at 12:15PM, at Chicago's Millennium Park. Illinois Arts Council 2006 Artists Fellowship award recipient, Kiu Haghighi is known as a santour virtuoso in concert halls around the world. Kiu's work as both a performer and a composer on the santour combines and blends traditional Iranian forms with contemporary ones.

A master of all the twelve melody types used as a basis for Iranian classical improvisation, Kiu has expanded the technical possibilities of the santour. His unusual speed in the movement of the leather-tipped mallets called mezrab is both well-known and extraordinary. The santour, a native Persian instrument, is often defined as the box zither of the Middle East. In Iran the santour is an important instrument in the traditional orchestra.  He will be accompanied by a Percussionist for this event. For prgrams sponsored by Iran House of Greater Chicago, contact 847-673 0614 or email silkroadihgc@yahoo.com,  www.Iranhouse.org.

There are many programs of interest such as series, Dancing Along the Silk Road: From India to Spain and  Journey Along the Silk Road: Carevan Saray at Millennium Park- Friday August 11, 2006 12:15 Caravansaray, the roadside inns built around a court to accommodate caravans along the Silk Road and other Eastern trade routes from China to the Middle East. The ensemble performs music tied to places along The Silk Road.

At each stage of the musical journey (East to West), they stop at a caravansaray to introduce the next musical leg of their journey. Ensemble members include Betty Xiang, renowned master of the Chinese erhu (a traditional bowed spiked fiddle), Masoud Kamgarpour on the Iranian santur (a Middle Eastern hammered dulcimer), Syrian percussionist Omar Al Musfi on bendir (a Middle Eastern frame drum) and Greek and Turkish clarinetist Jim Stoynoff.

The Silk Road Oasis at 72 E. Randolph Street, the headquarters for the summer celebration, is a place for Chicagoans and visitors to go and experience the cultural and artistic legacies of the Silk Road. It features artists' demonstrations such as silk screening and weaving, and performances by musicians and storytellers. On Friday evenings beginning June 2, concerts and performances are offered from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m.  Artist demonstrations and family workshops will take place on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

More than 50 Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Center Presents classical, world music, family, and educational performances-all carrying the theme of Silk Road Chicago-will anchor Symphony Center's 2006-2007 season, in conjunction with the ambitious, yearlong, citywide celebration of the art and culture of the historic Silk Road

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will offer a preview of its year of Silk Road-inspired programming, launching its 2006-2007 season with three free events: two concerts at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion on September 13 and 14, and the tenth annual free Macy's Day of Music at Symphony Center on September 16. Symphony Center's Silk Road Chicago celebration officially kicks off on September 30, when Yo-Yo Ma joins the CSO and conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya for the Orchestra's festive Opening Night Gala.

Throughout the year, many CSO subscription concerts will feature repertoire inspired by the Silk Road-historically, geographically, and metaphorically. The Silk Road theme will be further reflected in a unique selection of Symphony Center Presents, MusicNOW, and Kraft Family Matinee Series programs and special concert offerings.  Silk Road Chicago at Symphony Center will culminate with a week-long residency by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble in April 2007, featuring collaborative concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, family performances, and educational programs.

Silk Road Chicago at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is generously supported by its lead sponsor, the McCormick Tribune Foundation, and its lead corporate sponsor, the Sara Lee Foundation.  Ford Motor Company is continuing as a Global Corporate Partner to The Silk Road Project, as part of its longstanding tradition of arts education support.

Please view the CSO calendar on this Web site for a complete schedule of programming or visit www.cso.org for more information.

The Art Institute of Chicago, with its world renowned permanent collection of more than 260,000 objects, is pleased to be a major crossroads for Silk Road Chicago, the most ambitious themed exhibition to take place at the museum. Long a repository of the world's cultural and artistic treasures, the Art Institute will offer visitors the rare opportunity to view objects across the entire collection around a common theme, supported by nearly 100 performance, educational, and collaborative programs. The Silk Road-"the place where strangers meet" as Yo-Yo Ma describes it-will come alive at the museum from Opening Day on September 30, 2006, to June 2007.

A vast array of exhibitions and activities will greet visitors throughout the year. Several galleries will be devoted to the theme, featuring rotating objects-from Tang sculptures to Dutch paintings to lavish silk court robes-from the historic Silk Road as well as modern and contemporary art that embodies the ideas of cultural transmission. In addition, hundreds of art works from every corner of the Art Institute will be highlighted as "Silk Road objects" and will be featured with materials that illustrate and explain their significance and connection to the themes of the Silk Road.

Artists and musicians will also be in residence at the Art Institute, culminating in a week-long residency in April by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma from April 9 to April 15. Some of the programs scheduled are: an installation of prints and drawings examines the relationship of 15th and 16th-century Europe to Persia and the Ottoman Empire. Rather than focusing on battles and crusades, this display addresses diplomatic relationships and their influences and also includes genre prints

. Voices from Persia Majesty and Rider,  Literature of the silk Road,  Sound of the Silk Road World Percussion,  Persian Pearls in Tibetan Tiaras, Islamic Ceramic Perpetual Glory Exhibition,  Samarghand, Islamic Art and Culture,  Rumi and Hafez,  Paradise Gardens in Bloom

View the Art Institute calendar for a complete schedule of programming or visit www.artic.edu/aic for more information.
Please view our event calendar at www.SilkRoadChicago.org  for a complete schedule of Silk Road Chicago: Summer 2006 programming

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