Silkroad and New England Conservatory are partnering for the 2023 Global Musician Workshop (GMW) from August 6-12. The program includes professional development workshops and a Performance Festival featuring Silkroad artists, NEC faculty, special guests, and GMW participants. This year’s GMW brings together 70 musicians from 25 countries and 26 instruments, selected from 175 applicants, with their tuition fully underwritten by Silkroad.
The workshop aims to explore various cultures, instruments, and styles, fostering a global community of musicians. The faculty, including Silkroad artists and guest artists from diverse backgrounds, will lead repertoire workshops, elective classes, jams, and open mic nights, encouraging cross-cultural collaboration and musical exchange among participants. The program emphasizes celebrating uniqueness while finding common ground in the universal language of music.
“I feel excited for the opportunity to spend a whole week with these incredible musicians and our outstanding faculty artists,” said GMW Director Mike Block. “As in previous years, we will learn about various cultures, instruments, and styles, leaning into what makes each of us unique and sharing in the musical language that brings us all together. It will be a real treat to dive into so many different perspectives of what music can be, while also finding our common ground.”
Co-Lead Wu Man added, “It brings me such joy to be a part of GMW. Every year, it’s incredible to see all the different people, colors, and languages coming together from around the globe. It’s what I’ve always wanted to achieve through my career—sharing cultures and creating a global community of musicians. Although I am unable to participate in the workshop this year, I was very happy to collaborate closely with Mike, planning an exciting week of classes, talks, and jam sessions. The musicians who will join us are all deeply connected to their own backgrounds and musical styles, so it’s a wonderful, welcoming opportunity to connect and collaborate with one another.”
Joining Block to teach and lead a diverse set of sessions will be Silkroad artists Maeve Gilchrist, Edward Pérez, and Balla Kouyaté (who is also NEC Faculty); NEC Faculty Hankus Netsky; and guest artists Jamey Haddad, Mei Han, Abeer Nehme, and Kala Ramnath.
Performances are open to the public; tickets are available at silkroad.org.
Silkroad’s 2023 Global Musician Workshop (GMW)
Hosted in Partnership with New England Conservatory
Sunday, August 6-Saturday, August 12
New England Conservatory’s Campus (not open to the public)
Silkroad artists, together with NEC faculty and special guests, lead a professional development program that includes group workshops, play-along jam sessions, panel discussions, topic-based elective classes, and more—all representing a wide range of backgrounds and traditions from around the world.
Mike Block, GMW Director/Silkroad Artist & NEC Faculty/multi-style cello
Maeve Gilchrist, Silkroad Artist/Celtic Harp
Jamey Haddad, Guest Artist/percussion
Mei Han, Guest Artist/zheng
Balla Kouyaté, Silkroad Artist/NEC Faculty/balafon
Abeer Nehme, Guest Artist/Voice
Hankus Netsky, Guest Artist/NEC Faculty/multi-instrumentalist
Edward Pérez, Silkroad Artist/bass
Kala Ramnath, Guest Artist/Indian Hindustani violin
Aakaash Rao, piano (USA)
Aaron Jonah Lewis, fiddle & banjo (USA/UK)
Adel Ardalan, daf (Iran)
Alejandra Gomez, trumpet (Uruguay)
Alejandro Castellano, oud & guitar (USA)
Ali Bandeali, percussion (USA)
Anastasiya Voytyuk, bandura & voice (Ukraine)
Anna Fisher-Roberts, flute (USA)
Arafat Kazi, drum set (USA)
Bahar Badieitabar, oud (Iran)
Beitong Liu, erhu (China)
Belery Firmin, guitar (Chad)
Benjamin Barreiro, saxophone (Uruguay)
Carolina Sena, voice (Argentina)
Christylez Bacon, human beatbox (USA)
Colleen Bernstein, percussion (USA)
Eleanor Dunsdon, Celtic harp (UK)
Emily Mitchell, guitar (USA)
Eric Heveron-Smith, bass & trombone (USA)
Eric Zheng, saxophone (USA)
Erin Guinup, voice (USA)
Erin Hogan, voice (USA)
Ezra Rudel, trumpet (USA)
Gabriel Genest, saxophone (Canada)
Gregor Black, percussion (UK)
Harold Nat-Johnson, guitar (Sierra Leone)
Huma Rahimi, sitar (Afghanistan)
Igor Iwanek, harmonium & keyboard (Poland/USA)
Iñaki Reta-Moreno, accordion (Spain)
Isabel Castellvi, cello (USA)
Iyabode Johnson, voice (Sierra Leone)
Jace Mason, guitar (USA)
James Perretta, viola da gamba (USA)
Jason Lee, violin (Taiwan)
Jim Guttmann, bass (USA)
Johanna Andrea Amaya Conejo, drum set (Colombia)
Johannes Claassen, vibraphone (Germany)
Jon Diaz, guitar (USA)
Josh Plotner, saxophone & woodwinds (USA)
Josiah Duhlstine, cello (USA)
Julian Loida, percussion (USA)
Justin Paschalides, accordion (USA)
Kaitlyn Raitz, cello (USA)
Kate Krontiris, voice (USA)
Katerina Zhiyuan Luo, guzheng (China)
Laith Alattar, oud & voice (USA)
Lindsey Clark, viola & nyckelharpa (USA)
Mahya Hamedi, voice & piano (Iran)
Malik Schilling, hand percussion (Germany)
Maria Mendez Ramirez, piano & voice (Russia)
Maurizio Fiore Salas, Venezuelan cuatro (Venezuela)
Maximilian Jacobs, violin (USA)
Mehrnam Rastegari, kamancha & Iranian violin (Iran)
Mei Stone, flute (USA)
Nadia Pessoa, harp (USA)
Nicole Lopez, voice (USA/Colombia)
Noam Ginsparg, cello (USA)
Norma Viridiana Hernández Villa, violin (Mexico)
Paul July Joseph, drum (Haiti)
Ria Modak, guitar (USA)
Robert Chappell, tabla, piano & mallets (USA)
Roksana Sarrafi, voice & setar (Iran)
Sam Stage, fiddle (USA)
Samuel Sjostedt, oud (USA)
Saomek Srithongkum, piano (Thailand)
Solomon Fatoma, keyboard (Sierra Leone)
Upasak Mukherjee, tabla (India)
Xing Wan, guzheng (Hong Kong)
Yi Fan, pipa (China)
Yotam Ishay, piano (Israel/Lithuania)
2023 GMW Performance Festival
Tuesday, August 8-Saturday, August 12 at 8 p.m. nightly
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Tickets: $25 Faculty Concert, $15 Participant Concerts, $50 All-Inclusive Five-Day Pass
GMW presents five varied concerts, showcasing faculty and participants alike! On August 8, the GMW Faculty Concert will feature newly created arrangements by the faculty artists, blending together musics from India, Mali, the United States, China, Lebanon, and more. From August 9-12, GMW participants will perform in bands alongside GMW faculty to present brand-new arrangements of tunes from around the world.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central