The Music of Strangers

Yo-Yo Ma was the prodigy who becoming a world-renowned concert cellist. Throughout his decades-long career, however, he never stopped wondering about music as a language and means of communication, able to create unexpected connections between people. That was the source of his “Silk Road” project, which brought together musicians from Syria, Spain, China, the U.S., Iran and Israel. Each member of the ensemble brought different sounds, traditional instruments, and personal stories that reveal sources of inspiration. Most of these stories intertwine with dramatic world events (9/11, the Iranian Revolution and the attempted revolution in Syria), and propose a new kind of direct interaction between people instead. This film by Academy Award-winner Morgan Neville (“Twenty Feet from Stardom”), features original music from the Ensemble’s six albums.