Silk Road musicians to perform Wednesday at DePauw

Courtesy photo Cellist Mike Block (right) and table player Sandeep Das, members of the Silk Road Ensemble, will visit to Greencastle for two performance/presentations Wednesday, April 1, beginning at 10:20 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Both events will be staged in the Green Center's Thompson Recital Hall on the DePauw University campus.

This week Silk Road musicians Mike Block and Sandeep Das will make the first in what the DePauw University School of Music looks forward to becoming a series of repeat visits to Greencastle.

On Wednesday, April 1, Block and Das will spend a day at DePauw that will culminate in a concert of music for cello, Indian tabla and voice, including original compositions and songs, Classical pieces and arrangements of Indian folk music. The event is offered in conjunction with the upcoming Global Musician Workshop, which will be taught by the Silk Road Ensemble, both projects initiated by the renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Earlier this year, the DePauw School of Music was selected to serve as the host site for the inaugural GM Workshop June 8-12 at the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts. Wednesday's appearances by two members of the famed ensemble will also be at the GCPA.

In addition to a 7:30 p.m. concert in Thompson Recital Hall, Block and Das will play and talk with students during the school's weekly 10:20 a.m. Wednesday Recital Hour, demonstrating and discussing how Silk Road's spirit of intercultural musicianship -- learning from and making music with performers from different cultures -- works in practice. In the evening concert, audiences will experience what the two world-class musicians have created together.

"Mike Block is a first-class classical cellist, trained at Juilliard. He's also one of the top 'alternative styles' string players on the scene today, renowned for his folk/rock/jazz playing," said Eric Edberg, DePauw professor of music and founder/artistic director of the Greencastle Summer Music Festival.

"Mike's a composer and arranger, a brilliant concert organizer and an entrepreneur who runs his own summer camps. He brings together musicians from different musical cultures to create fascinating and engaging performances that represent the best of intercultural collaboration and co-creation."

No wonder Yo-Yo Ma has called Block "the ideal 21st-century musician."

"I'm a huge fan of Mike," Edberg adds, "and am very excited for Wednesday's events."

General admission for the Faculty Select series concert at 7:30 p.m. is $5; tickets for seniors, children and all students are free thanks to season sponsors Judson and Joyce Green.

To obtain tickets, visit www.depauw.edu/music/tickets, stop by or call the GCPA box office, 658-4827.