Today, American-Chinese cellist Yo Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble take us on an exotic journey with music from lands along the world's most famous trade route, including China, Azerbaijan, India, Iran and Mongolia. Yo Yo Ma is the founder and musical director of the not-for-profit organisation Silk Road Project, now known simply as Silkroad. He formed Silkroad in 2000 and since then composers and arrangers from more than 22 countries have produced over 80 new works and six albums. This is the ensemble's second recording Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon (Sony 693962) released in 2005. Photo: Hum Ensemble - Wikimedia Commons

Musicians....
Siamak Aghaei santur, Nicholas Cords viola, Gevorg Dabaghyan duduk, Sandeep Das tabla, Nilanjana Dey vocal, Fakhruddin Dholpuri sarangi, Jason Duckles cello, Joel Fan piano, percussion, Jonathan Gandelsman violin, Joseph Gramley percussion, Rauf Islamov kamancheh, Colin Jacobsen violin, Siamak Jahangiry ney, Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh, Ljova viola, Yo-Yo Ma cello, Max Mandel viola, Malik Mansurov tar, Gulia Mashurova harp, Alan Pierson conductor, Alim Qasimov vocal, daf, Shane Shanahan percussion, Mark Suter percussion, Kojiro Umezaki shakuhachi, Wu Man pipa, Wu Tong sheng, vocal, xun, bawu, DaXun Zhang bass

Tracks featured....
DAS / DEY arr. LJOVA: Mohini (Enchantment)
SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE: Oasis (an improvisation)
JIPING / LIN: Distant Green Valley
TRAD (Georgian) arr DABAGHYAN: Akhalqalaqi Dance
JIPING: Echoes of a Lost City
KALHOR arr LJOVA: Mountains are Far Away
TRAD (Kazakh / Chinese) arr LIN : Yanzi (Swallow Song)
Arr LIN: Battle Remembered
AMIROV: Kor Arab
HAJIBEYOV : Shikasta (Minstrel’s Song)
TRAD (Turkish) arr SHANAHAN: Night at the Caravanserai
KALHOR: Gallop of a Thousand Horses
DAS: Tarang (Currents)
JIPING: Sacred Cloud Music