Silkroad Up-Close offers a closer look at some of the extraordinary artists who make up the Silkroad Ensemble and at the ideas, traditions, and relationships that shape their work. Created as an intimate counterpart to Silkroad’s large-scale concert presentations, this flagship series gives Ensemble members the space to lead: inviting collaborators, tracing musical lineages, and developing programs rooted in their own creative lives. The result is a portrait of Silkroad from the inside, revealing not only the breadth of traditions represented within the Ensemble, but the curiosity and exchange that continually transform them.
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PROGRAM 1
Silkroad Up-Close featuring Shane Shanahan Quartet
Cycles Beyond Time
This project grows out of the many musical threads I’ve gathered over 25 years with Silkroad and beyond—threads that have shaped how I listen, collaborate, and create. Rather than fusion in the conventional sense, I’m pursuing something more integrated: a sound rooted in tradition while remaining open, searching, and alive. The quartet brings together ud, violin, South Indian voice, and percussion, with my original compositions providing the architecture—a generous framework where tradition serves as the foundation and improvisation as the electricity. Drawing from Indian, Middle Eastern, jazz, rock, and minimalist traditions, the music explores the interplay between structure and spontaneity, with rhythm elevated from accompaniment to a driving, expressive force that invites both musicians and listeners into a shared space of tension, release, and transformation.
Ultimately, it brings together distinct artistic voices in a way that honors their origins while creating something new—music that reflects both our differences and our shared search for connection and hope, especially in a moment that so desperately needs it.
Collaborators/Personnel:
Shane Shanahan (percussion), Edward Perez (bass) Harvey Valdes (Ud/Guitar), Megan Gould (Violin), Roopa Mahadevan (Vocals)
PROGRAM 2
Silkroad Up-Close featuring Edward Pérez Trio with guest Mahya Hamedi
Grammy‑winning bassist and composer Edward Pérez forges a program in which the improvisational spark of jazz meets the global influences he absorbed through a decade with Silkroad, all propelled by the intimate chemistry of collaborators old and new. The music draws from a life lived on the fringe between musical worlds, culminating in a world premiere written for this very occasion.
At the heart of the sound is pianist and longtime partner‑in‑crime Alex Brown, Pérez’s co‑conspirator in settings ranging from jazz trios and Paquito D’Rivera’s ensemble to the band of Peruvian icon Eva Ayllón and the pair’s Grammy‑winning collaboration with Imani Winds and Harlem Quartet. Adding their voices to the mix are internationally acclaimed percussionist Keita Ogawa and the ace up Pérez’s sleeve: rising‑star vocalist Mahya Hamedi, whose genre‑bending style carries the kernel of her Persian roots and a virtually limitless world of possibilities. When these four converge, expect boundary‑blurring music, deep interplay, and the thrill of discovery.
Over five Wednesday evenings at National Sawdust, Silkroad artists and special guests come together in performances that cross generations and geographies, moving freely between inherited forms and new composition, improvisation and experimentation.
The intimate setting of National Sawdust brings audiences closer to the individual artists of the Ensemble, creating space for the musical connections, discoveries, and moments of spontaneity that can only emerge when artists and audiences share an intimate musical experience.
Join us for the other events in this series:
ABOUT SILKROAD
Yo-Yo Ma conceived Silkroad in 1998, recognizing the historical Silk Road as a model for cultural collaboration—for the exchange of ideas, tradition, and innovation across borders. In a groundbreaking experiment, he brought together musicians from the lands of the Silk Road to co-create a musical language founded in difference, thus creating the foundation of Silkroad: both a touring ensemble comprised of world-class musicians from all over the globe and a Boston-based non-profit organization working to make a positive impact across borders through the arts.
Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens and President and CEO Ben Hartley, Silkroad leads social impact initiatives and educational programming alongside the creation of new music by the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble.
To learn more, please visit silkroad.org and @silkroadproject on social media.
This is a seated performance. If you require accessibility accommodations, please email boxoffice@nationalsawdust.org.
ABOUT SHANE SHANAHAN
Known for his innovative melding of musical styles and traditions, Grammy winning percussionist and composer Shane Shanahan has fused his studies of Middle-Eastern, Indian and African drumming traditions with his background in jazz, rock and Western classical music to create his own distinctive style. For 20 years he toured around the globe performing with Yo-Yo Ma as a founding member of the genre defying Silkroad Ensemble. Mr. Ma believes that, “Shane’s creativity comes from his ability to draw from the energy of the universe.” In 2017, Yo-Yo handed artistic leadership of Silkroad over to Shane and two of his colleagues, all three serving as Co-Artistic Directors for the following three years. Shane’s arrangements and compositions are featured on several of the group’s eight recordings and he can be heard and seen on Mr. Ma's Grammy Award Winning holiday CD/DVD release, "Songs of Joy And Peace." He has also performed and/or recorded with such artists as: Bobby McFerrin, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Philip Glass, Chaka Khan, Bill Frisell, Amjad Ali Khan, Sharam Nazeri, Alim Qasimov, Toumani Diabate, Alison Krauss, and Glen Velez, among others. As a bandleader, Shanahan has released two albums of his original compositions for global chamber ensemble and percussion. Shane’s dynamic performances have brought people to their feet in the greatest concert halls of the world, including Carnegie Hall, after which the New York Times proclaimed, “By the time he finished in a virtuosic jester’s dance, limbs flying as he whirled back and forth between doumbek, cymbals and body parts, the audience roared with delight.” Shanahan has also performed at the White House for President and First Lady Obama.
A strong believer in the transformative power of education, Shane frequently presents workshops and clinics at the world’s leading universities, including Princeton, Juilliard, Eastman, Cornell, and the New England Conservatory, and he is currently a Guest Teaching Artist at the Hartt School. From 2012-2016, Shane was the Lead Teaching Artist for the Silkroad’s arts-integrated education initiative, Silkroad Connect. In 2017, he was a Blodgett Distinguished Artist at Harvard University where he taught a course in the music department. For several years, Shane facilitated intensive workshops with students the Lame Deer School on an Indian American Reservation in Montana. He collaborates actively with the dance, theater and yoga communities in the New York area and while not on tour, he teaches drumming classes out of his studio in Brooklyn. He has also played in the pit orchestras of several Broadway shows including Caroline, or Change, The Color Purple, Shrek, Spider-Man, Fun Home, Tuck Everlasting, Mean Girls, The Notebook, Come From Away, and Titanique.
ABOUT MEGAN GOULD
Megan Gould (violin) is one of NYC's most versatile performers of Middle Eastern, Greek and popular music. Her comfort within a wide range of styles, her responsiveness to other musicians on stage, and a soulful improvisational style make Megan a sought-after element in many musical projects. Since completing a Master's Degree in Ethnomusicology (with a concentration on the Middle East) from the University of London, she has performed around the world in cities as far-flung as Paris, London, Budapest, Copenhagen and Dubai, and has toured extensively throughout the US, appearing at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and on TV and radio broadcasts for NBC, PBS, MTV and NPR. She has performed onstage with popular artists such as David Byrne, Natalie Merchant, John Mellencamp, David Broza, Sean Lennon and Donovan, with jazz notables Fabian Almazan, Wayne Horvitz, Harry Skoler, Franco Ambrosetti, and Jenny Scheinman, with legendary Greek composer Giannis Markopoulos and the beloved Greek singers Alkistis Protopsaltis, Kostas Makedonas, Dimitris Mpasis and Vasilis Papakonstantinou, and as part of the Silk Road Ensemble. She has recorded for artists including Lou Reed, Philip Glass, Natalie Merchant, The Lumineers, Chris Martin, Michael Marcagi, Metallica and Nico Muhly. While taking on a significant amount of freelance work, her ongoing positions include Assistant Music Director of the New York Arabic Orchestra under Lebanese master musician Bassam Saba, a violinist in Natalie Merchant's touring quartet, first violin in Fabian Almazan's Rhizome ensemble and in Greek 'oud virtuoso Mavrothi Kontanis' Maeandros Ensemble, Principal Second Violin of the Bard Conductor's Institute Orchestra, and violinist/baglama player for the popular Greek band Mikrokosmos. Currently she resides in upstate NY, close to New York City, where she performs and records with groups ranging from traditional Arabic to rock.
ABOUT HARVEY VALDES
“Harvey Valdes is a fantastic guitarist – musical to the nth degree and with chops to spare, as anyone knows who has heard his astonishing contrapuntal virtuosity.” — Andy Summers, The Police
A guitarist of searching, sophisticated musicality, Harvey Valdes, is renowned for his unique musical voice which spans a range of idioms and styles. His versatility has enabled him to work in refreshingly diverse situations, from award winning Broadway musicals, Baroque Opera, Middle Eastern music, film scores, and the music of Bach. He records many of his own works, and continues to develop a distinctive compositional and improvisational voice. Harvey has an intrepid curiosity about the electric guitar’s sonic and expressive range. In addition, he also plays the Arabic oud, cümbüs, banjo, mandolin, lap steel, pedal steel guitar, and classical guitar.
Harvey’s work in NYC theater includes Broadway, Off-Broadway, and downtown theater. He held the guitar/oud chair and was featured in the onstage band for the Broadway hit, The Band’s Visit. The musical received 10 Tony awards, a 2019 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and an Emmy. He has also performed in the Broadway pit bands of The Outsiders, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, and many others. On the Off-Broadway stage, he has worked with Soho Rep, Atlantic Theater Company, and at The Public Theater, in addition to his stint with world renowned experimental theater company, The Wooster Group, for their production of Cavalli’s 1640 Baroque opera, La Didone.
To date, he has released five albums as a soloist/leader: Concurrents, a collection of spontaneous compositions for guitar and upright bass; Novare: J.S. Bach Lute Works on Electric Guitar (Destiny Records 2022) an electric guitar interpretation of Bach's Lute Suites; Solitude Intones Its Echo (Destiny, 2019) a set of poetically concise, engaging solo improvisations; PointCounterPoint (2016), a bristling, Mahavishnu-meets-math-rock trio album with violinist Sana Nagano and drummer Joe Hertenstein; and Roundabout (2015), his solo debut featuring lyrically inventive takes on jazz standards. As a composer-improviser for film, Harvey contributed a score for The Utopians, which premiered at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival, where his music was praised for constituting “one of the longest-lasting guitar improvisations since [Neil Young’s score for] Dead Man.” Harvey’s adventurous body of work has attracted fans among iconic guitarists, including Andy Summers of The Police, ECM luminary David Torn and avant-garde notable Elliott Sharp.
Harvey has played on stages from Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and St. Ann’s Warehouse to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Chicago Cultural Center, CalArts’ Redcat Theater in Los Angeles, Scotland’s Royal Lyceum Theatre and the United Nations. Harvey has also been featured in broadcast performances for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, The Today Show, WNYC-FM, numerous PBS specials, as well as the 72nd annual Tony Awards. Artists he has performed and/or recorded with over the years have included: Katrina Lenk, David Yazbek, Tom Kitt, Jamshied Sharifi, Henri Scars Struck, Karl Berger, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Sana Nagano Atomic Pigeons, Bern Nix, Noël Akchoté, Gerry Hemingway, Lukas Ligeti, and Rhys Chatham’s, A Crimson Grail. He has been featured on multiple compilation albums including the fifth in Elliott Sharp’s anthology series Never Meta Guitar; Go Where There Is No Path, a Destiny Records anthology supporting artists for racial equality; and Walk My Way, a five-volume 577 Records set featuring 49 guitarists of 32 different nationalities from six continents. His recent recordings include a drum/guitar duo interpretation of Shostakovich Preludes, and a guitar trio led by Colombian guitarist Daniel Reyes Llinas for the 7D Media label curated by King Crimson alum, Trey Gunn.
ABOUT ROOPA MAHADEVAN
Whether singing for Bijayini Satpathy at Baryshnikov Arts Center in NYC, swinging with jazz peers at Black Cat in SF, or leading the Navatman Music Collective (choir) through an installation on the High Line, Roopa Mahadevan brings her versatile talent and generous spirit to her musical endeavors.
Roopa Mahadevan is a leading second-generation Indian classical and crossover vocalist. Her signature crossover project, Roopa in Flux, and collaborations in jazz, R&B/soul, free improv, and dance/theater have taken her to venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, MET Museum, Carnegie Hall, SFJazz, Sadler’s Wells, Jacob’s Pillow, and more.
Roopa trained in Carnatic (South Indian) vocal under Asha Ramesh and further under Suguna Varadachari in India through the Fulbright scholarship. Awarded the title “Kala Ratna” by Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Roopa has performed in prestigious Carnatic venues such as Chennai's Music Academy during the December music season, and has become an in-demand Carnatic vocalist for leading Bharatanatyam dancers around the world.
Roopa was a featured soloist with the Grammy-winning album Calling All Dawns, by Christopher Tin. Roopa has worked with top artists across fields, such as Wynton Marsalis (jazz), Mythili Prakash (dance), Misha Chowdhury (theater), and Arto Lindsay (rock), and done residencies at Joe’s Pub, Banff Center, Ryder Farm, and Hedgebrook.
Through her multiple avatars - composer, choir director, dance accompanist, comedian, teacher, and more - Roopa brings a critical commentary, humor, and authenticity rarely found in a traditional Indian classical artist of her caliber. Roopa is excited to tour Roopa in Flux and bring her brand of radical joy to more communities.
ABOUT EDWARD PÉREZ
Grammy‑winning bassist and seven‑time Grammy nominee Edward Pérez is a composer, arranger, and bandleader whose musical life has unfolded as a journey across cultures and genres. Based in Queens, New York, he moves fluidly between jazz, Latin music, and global traditions, bringing a composer’s inventiveness and a bassist’s rhythmic drive to every project.
Pérez began in the jazz clubs of Boston while studying mathematics at Harvard, but quickly expanded into Latin jazz and the folkloric styles of South America. A formative two‑year stay in Lima deepened his connection to the region’s musical languages and set the stage for a career defined by stylistic exploration. Establishing his residence in New York in 2005, he began touring with jazz heavyweights including Lee Konitz, Seamus Blake, Paquito D’Rivera, Ignacio Berroa, and Elio Villafranca. As his horizons expanded, he found himself in collaborations with musical luminaries of a stunning variety of genres, including Yo-Yo Ma, celebrated Afro-Peruvian singer Eva Ayllón, Colombian songstress Lucia Pulido, Galician gaita powerhouse Cristina Pato, flamenco artist Diego Amador, and Lebanese oud phenom Marcel Khalife,
As a composer, Pérez’s works have been performed in venues such as David Geffen Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, El Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima, Damascus Opera House, and Boston Symphony Hall.
Pérez co‑leads the Grammy‑nominated Terraza Big Band and won his first Grammy for the genre‑blending project Passion for Bach and Coltrane with Imani Winds. Still rooted in jazz improvisation, he remains perpetually on the lookout for his next insipiring collaboration.
ABOUT MAHYA HAMEDI
Mahya Hamedi is a vocalist, pianist, improviser, composer, and arranger based in New York City. Her genre-defying music bridges Iranian roots with contemporary jazz, alternative rock, and classical soundscapes. She began her career composing for theater, debuting at age 16 in Greece’s Olympia in Dion. At age 18 she conducted and performed her large-scale composition for Après Cela at Tehran’s Molavi Theater Hall.
Mahya’s authentic and versatile voice has taken her to prestigious venues and festivals across the United States, where she has performed original music and shared the stage with artists such as Joel Ross, Alkinoos Ioannidis, Faraualla, Golnar Shahyar, Mahan Mirarab, and King Raam.
Her recorded work has been celebrated across Iran and the global Iranian diaspora, accumulating over a million streams. Her 2020 single Deng received critical attention for its unique blend of Dezfuli folk with modern influences. Kakhe Goman is the first single from her forthcoming debut album, offering a glimpse into her distinct compositional voice. Mahya appeared in the US premiere of The Witcher: In Concert in Boston before joining the production’s U.S. tour. She is currently completing her debut studio album for international release.
ABOUT ALEX BROWN
Grammy award–winning pianist and composer Alex Brown is one of the most versatile artists of his generation. Praised by The New York Times for his “crystalline touch and worldly approach,” he blends jazz, classical, Latin, and contemporary traditions with a distinctive voice as both improviser and composer.
A longtime member of Paquito D’Rivera’s ensemble, Brown has contributed to multiple Grammy-winning and nominated projects, including co‑receiving the 2024 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium for Passion for Bach and Coltrane. He has performed with Yo‑Yo Ma, Christian McBride, Miguel Zenón, Chris Thile, and others, appearing at major venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Newport Jazz Festival. He has also been featured as soloist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico City.
As a composer and arranger, Brown merges classical training with deep jazz roots and a global perspective. Recent projects include a 2025 commission from Lyrica Baroque and orchestrations for Cynthia Erivo, the National Symphony Orchestra, and genre‑bending collaborations with Andre Nickatina. His work spans film, television, and string arrangements for Kendrick Scott’s Unearthed. His albums as a leader include Pianist, The Dark Fire Sessions, and Island to Island.
Born in Columbia, Maryland, Brown holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and the Frost School of Music, and teaches at the Peabody Institute. He is a Yamaha Artist.
ABOUT KEITA OGAWA
Originally from Nagasaki, Japan, Keita Ogawa is a multi–GRAMMY nominee, GRAMMY Award winner, and one of New York City’s most sought‑after percussionists. He began playing drum set at 15 and quickly became a fixture in Tokyo’s music scene before deciding to push further and study abroad. At Berklee College of Music, he worked with influential mentors—including Jamey Haddad—who helped broaden his musical language and curiosity.
Driven by a desire to immerse himself fully in new traditions, Ogawa moved to Rio de Janeiro for three months to study Brazilian percussion at its source. There he trained with masters such as Jorginho do Pandeiro, Celsinho Silva, Kiko Freitas, and Marcio Bahia, an experience that deepened the rhythmic versatility that defines his work today.
Since arriving in the United States, Ogawa has collaborated with leading artists across genres, including Yo‑Yo Ma, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Betty Buckley, the Assad Brothers, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Clarice Assad, Jaques Morelenbaum, Osvaldo Golijov, Les Nubians, Charlie Hunter, and major orchestras such as the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. He is also a core member of Snarky Puppy, Bokanté, and Banda Magda.
His creative reach extends beyond performance: he composed the opening theme for Japan’s national TV program Hodo Station in 2016, was named Tourism Ambassador for his hometown of Sasebo in 2017, and received a Civic Honor Award there in 2022.