In 2003 AKMI presented Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble in a nine-day concert tour of Central Asia featuring concerts and workshops in Bishkek, Almaty, and Dushanbe.  The partnership has recently been extended to develop multimedia programmes for a new “Museum Initiative” in which works of visual art join traditions of oral literature and world music through performances, exhibitions, and educational events in some of the world's leading museums.

Newly-created multimedia programmes have been presented at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts in January 2004, and, most recently, at the British Library in London, accompanying the exhibition “The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith”.  Visit the Silk Road Project website.

Introduction to Silk Road Ensemble Tour and the Aga Khan Music Initiative

Between 26 April and 2 May 2003, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble conducted master classes and performed at concerts in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, as part of a broad programme undertaken by the Aga Khan Music Initiative to preserve and promote traditional music.  Following critically acclaimed concerts in North America and Europe, Yo-Yo Ma and the Ensemble brought their unique fusion of ancient Silk Road traditions and western classical music to the heart of the Silk Road.

The Silk Road Project is led by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma in coordination with a distinguished team of scholars, musicians and artists from around the world.  Programmes in Central Asia feature Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble - a collective of musicians whose careers encompass classical, folk and pop music - performing specially commissioned pieces by composers from Silk Road countries including China, Mongolia, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran.  Masterpieces from Western composers inspired by the arts and music of the East will also be performed.