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The Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture is the lead funder and creative partner of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and The Silk Road Project, Inc.The Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Aga Khan Music Initiative in
Central AsiaThe Aga Khan Trust for Culture is the lead funder and creative partner of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and The Silk Road Project, Inc. At the same time the Trust promotes Central Asian music in Europe and North America, it is also working through the auspices of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia for the preservation and promotion of traditional music at the heart of the Silk Road.

The long-term goals are to revitalise the study and performance of traditional music and to make local festivals artistically and financially self-sustaining.

 

News Archives

Remix Asia: A Catalyst for New Music
28 October 2009 - What do nineteen musicians hailing from eight countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Eurasia have in common? That was the question that participants in Remix Asia strove to answer during an intensive, fortnight-long workshop and concert tour that ended in Aleppo, Syria on October 18.

Collaboration between the Kronos Quartet and the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia
24 March 2010 - The Aga Khan Music Initiative and the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet have inaugurated a pioneering musical collaboration that brings the quartet together with leading musicians from Azerbaijan and Afghanistan to compose, arrange, and perform new music rooted in Central Asian tradition.

Music of Central Asia Volumes 7-9: In the Media
04 March 2010 - Press coverage of the release of the Music of Central Asia CD/DVD series, an initiative of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in collaboration with Smithsonian Folkways.

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Introduction to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
and the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia

The 2002 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, to be held 26 - 30 June 2002 and July 3 - 7 2002 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, USA, features 350 traditional artists - musicians, dancers, craftsmen, storytellers, artists, cooks, and more - from 20 nations including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United States and Uzbekistan.

Preserving and Promoting Traditional Music of the Silk RoadPreserving and Promoting Traditional Music of the Silk Road (Click on the image to download PDF).

For more information on the Aga Khan Trust for Culture's activities in Central Asian Music, please see the information backgrounder Preserving and Promoting Traditional Music of the Silk Road (PDF, 61KB, English) and the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia page.

The Silk Road Project

The Silk Road Project, an ongoing series of concerts and festivals. The Trust is the lead funding agency and creative partner of the Silk Road Project, which was founded by reknowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma to "study the ebb and flow of ideas among different cultures along the Silk Road" and "plant the seeds of new artistic and cultural growth...".

For more information on Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, Inc., please see the Silk Road Project website.

Also see the Calendar of concerts on the Silk Road Project website.

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