Silkroad To Return to NEC for the 2022 Global Musician Workshop

We are excited to share that Silkroad's Global Musician Workshop (GMW) will return to NEC's campus from August 8-12. This five-day program will welcome 60 students from around the globe to participate in tuition-free classes and public performances with Silkroad artists and special guests.

Directed by cellist and Contemporary Improvisation faculty member Mike Block and co-led by pipa player Wu Man—who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from NEC last year—the program brings together all-star faculty artists, including members of the Grammy-Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble and special guests, and students who represent a variety of cultures and musical languages. Over five days, participants will engage in faculty-led workshops, jam sessions, topic-based elective classes, and more. They will also share the legendary NEC Jordan Hall stage for a multi-night Performance Festival, from August 10-12, to showcase their learnings and music-making.

"This will be our first in-person reunion of the GMW community since the pandemic and we are so excited to collaborate again, learning music from both faculty and participants over five intense days of rehearsals, jamming, and workshops," said GMW Director Mike Block. "GMW is a one-of-a-kind gathering of globally-minded musical artists from vastly different cultures, styles, and instruments. The week of cross-cultural explorations and collaborations is beyond the scope of anything I've experienced anywhere else, and our public performances will give us the opportunity to share our joyous music live with the Boston community for the first time!"

GMW is a musician-training program modeled after the principle of cultural collaboration guiding the Silkroad Ensemble. Open to anyone over the age of 18, participants include professional and amateur performers, students, teachers, and teaching artists from a plethora of backgrounds and musical styles. By including classical, folk, jazz, and traditional genres from across the globe, they learn, share, and incorporate each other's traditions while expanding their own artistry. Hundreds of musicians representing nearly 40 different countries and over 40 kinds of instruments have participated in GMW since its inception in 2015.

This year, and for the very first time, 60 applicants were selected out of a pool of 158 to participate in GMW, with tuition fees fully underwritten by Silkroad (a value of $1,000 per student). Applicants in the 2022 program represented 33 countries and 42 different instruments.