The new feature-length documentary film The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble will premiere this month at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). To celebrate Morgan Neville’s new film, Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble will attend the September 13 world premiere screening, take part in a Q&A, and perform at Toronto’s Massey Hall (September 15).
Learn more about the September 15 Massey Hall concert with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
The premiere is complemented by a week-long residency at the Aga Khan Museum, beginning September 17.
“The joy we have when encountering and learning from other perspectives is one reason we are so pleased to be back in Toronto, a vibrant city that embraces cultural diversity. It was an honor for us to work with Morgan Neville on his documentary, which captures our experience of cross-cultural collaboration and celebrates what we share rather than what divides us. I am very grateful for the opportunity to bring the Ensemble to Toronto for this premiere, to perform for the first time in Massey Hall, to return to the Aga Khan Museum, and to once again be guests in this city’s remarkable arts community.” – Yo-Yo Ma
“We couldn’t be happier that this documentary about Yo-Yo and the Silk Road Ensemble is receiving its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival,” Silkroad’s Laura Freid said. “The musicians’ life stories give us powerful and poignant models for the ways that music, art, and culture can help us to develop the empathy and imagination to transcend our own experience, connect with the unfamiliar, and create positive change. At Silkroad, we aspire to be a catalyst for cultural citizenship. We hope that the inspiration individuals will take from the film will give depth to the experience of seeing the Silk Road Ensemble live, and we are so glad to be able to perform at Massey Hall within the same week.”
