The Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble creates music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration and passion-driven learning to build a more hopeful world. Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the group has been called “vibrant and virtuosic” by the Wall Street Journal, “one of the 21st century’s great ensembles” by the Vancouver Sun, and a “roving musical laboratory without walls” by the Boston Globe.

Their program in Bloomington will feature an evening-length multimedia performance of Home Within, an emotional accounting of home in a time of conflict. This audio-visual performance, conceived through a collaboration between Syrian composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Syrian-Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad, is an impressionistic reflection on the unity of loss, longing, and the impact of tragedy on our sense of ‘home.’ Rather than follow a narrative, the artists documented ‘home’ at specific moments in Syria’s recent history. Then, they used the counterpoint between image and sound to establish a sense of sustained urgency and continued hope for both their homeland and communities around the world. 

Home Within, originally created as a duo collaboration over a decade ago, is now taking on new life as a large-scale collaboration with Silkroad.

Home Within Artists:
Kinan Azmeh
Kevork Mourad
Layale Chaker
Shawn Conley
Karen Ouzounian
Issam Rafea
Shane Shanahan

A Conversation and Q&A with the Creators of Silkroad Ensemble’s Home Within

Hamiilton Lugar School Room 1122
Friday, April 8 at 11 a.m.

How do you define home? What is home amidst tragedy and loss? What role can art play during times of conflict? What can we do to help prevent tragedy?

Silkroad Ensemble’s Home Within, which will be performed at IU Auditorium Friday night, combines instrumental music, electronics, and live illustration to create an emotional and moving account of home in a time of conflict. The project was created by Syrian composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Syrian-Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad to express their experiences and feelings regarding the Syrian conflict that has claimed over a half million lives. Although Home Within was inspired by the Syrian conflict, it comes from the perspective that it is a human tragedy before it is just a Syrian tragedy. This conversation will focus on the creation and performance of Home Within.

This events is free and open to the public.