Reasons to listen:
- A pioneering cellist, Mike Block is passionate about cross cultural collaboration and expanding opportunities for musicians of all backgrounds.
- India’s top Tabla maestro, Sandeep Das is a regular at famous music halls and performances, having started at the age of 7 in the centuries-old Indian tradition.
- These two highly acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble musicians come together to provide a night of unforgettable compositional music at Hopewell Theater.
With the birthday of famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma approaching on Monday, October 7th, celebrate with two artists that have been featured in his Silk Road Ensemble on Friday, October 4th – Mike Block & Sandeep Das.
A pioneering cello player, singer, composer, and educator Mike Block was hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as the “ideal musician of the 21st century.” Block is an active recording artist of original material, folk music, and cross-cultural collaborations. At home in a wide range of musical styles, through a multi-genre approach to composition, performance, and education, he seeks to inspire audiences and empower musicians to find joy in the full world of music.
As an innovator, Block is among the first wave of cellists to adopt a strap in order to stand and move while playing. Employing his patented design, The Block Strap, he was the first standing cellist to perform at Carnegie Hall. The NY Times characterized the performance as, “Breathless … Half dance, half dare.”
As an educator, Block is passionate about creativity and collaboration. In 2010 he founded the Mike Block String Camp (MBSC) as a way to provide players of all backgrounds the opportunity to learn from a world-class faculty in a variety of styles, supporting the exploration and development of the artistic voice of each student. He is also the founding Director of Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop (GMW), designed to foster a community of globally minded musicians.
A 2019 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, composer, and humanitarian, Sandeep Das is one of the leading Tabla virtuosos in the world today. Having established himself as India’s top Tabla maestro, he has also built a prolific international reputation. He is one of the unique Indian classical musicians who has collaborated, performed with, and composed for major symphony orchestras, string quartets, and jazz musicians with regularly featured concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, and the Concertgebouw, to name a few.
In 2009, Das founded the HUM Ensemble to promote cross-cultural exchange by bringing together outstanding artists from diverse music traditions to share ideas, create new compositions, and exemplify the ideal of a global community. Today, HUM is an organization in its own right and, in addition to its performance activities, provides financial assistance to specially-abled children with an aptitude for the arts. Since its inception it has significantly impacted the lives of seven visually-impaired, specially-abled artists. The Ensemble currently tours five major projects in the U.S. and India.
Get tickets to see Mike Block & Sandeep Das live at Hopewell Theater on Friday, October 4th at 8pm here. Use the coupon code BLOCKDAS at checkout to waive ticketing fees!
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