Silkroad will present a multi-city tour of Phoenix Rising in July 2022 throughout the East Coast, marking the ensemble’s debut tour with Grammy Award-winning musician and vocalist Rhiannon Giddens since her appointment as artistic director in July 2020.

A musical rebirth and celebration, Phoenix Rising takes a cross-section of Silkroad’s award-winning compositions and arrangements and re-imagines them for today. With this in mind, members of the Silkroad Ensemble and Giddens collaborated on new works that coalesce Giddens unique worldview with the Ensemble’s collective experience during the pandemic.

Phoenix Rising will unveil three new commissions by Silkroad artists Sandeep Das, Maeve Gilchrist, and Kaoru Watanabe. The program also includes new arrangements by Rhiannon Giddens, Colin Jacobsen, Edward Pérez, and Mazz Swift.

Giddens and 13 Silkroad artists will visit venues in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

Phoenix Rising: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens tour dates:

  • July 16 at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, NY

  • July 19 at Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, NH

  • July 22 at Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI (sold out)

  • July 23 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ

  • July 24 at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA

  • July 27 at Music Worcester at Indian Ranch in Webster, MA

  • July 28 at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA (sold out)

  • July 30 at The Skaneateles Festival in Skaneateles, NY

About Silkroad

Yo-Yo Ma conceived Silkroad in 1998, recognizing the historical Silk Road as a model for cultural collaboration—for the exchange of ideas, tradition, and innovation across borders. In a groundbreaking experiment, he brought together musicians from the lands of the Silk Road to co-create a musical language founded in difference, thus creating the foundation of Silkroad: both a touring ensemble comprised of world-class musicians from all over the globe and a social impact organization working to make a positive impact across borders through the arts.

Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, Silkroad leads social impact initiatives and educational programming alongside the creation of new music by the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble.

About Rhiannon Giddens

Grammy Award-winning musician and vocalist Rhiannon Giddens has pursued a lifelong quest to shine light on under-recognized voices, genres, and musical traditions. A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, Giddens co-founded the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, and she has been nominated for six additional Grammys for her work as a soloist and collaborator. As a performer, composer, and cross-cultural connector, she has helped to change the understanding of both American and world music. Giddens has performed with the Silkroad Ensemble numerous times, but her appearances with them this season will be her first since succeeding Yo-Yo Ma as Artistic Director. Along with Silkroad’s artists, Giddens has shaped a program that will serve to connect the ever-evolving organization and its Ensemble.