From Silk Road to Carnival - Stratford Circus
31 October 2010 at 7:00pm
Stratford Circus, Theatre Square, Stratford E15 1BX
STRATFORD CIRCUS - Sunday 31st October 2010 – 7:00pm
WORKSHOPS, 28TH-30TH October, Hackney Empire Theatre
East London young musicians unite on a grand scale for a musical journey from China to the West Indies with world-renowned musicians from the Grand Union Orchestra.
Imagine a Silk merchant from Suzhou, a tea trader from Assam and a carpet maker from Istanbul are travelling west when they stumble upon a drum troop from Ghana and a Trinidadian steel band. Imagine the mixture of musical cultures; imagine the sounds exploding together; imagine the excitement of creating something completely new; imagine the Carnival!
Celebrating the many musical cultures brought to London through trade and travel, From Silk Road to Carnival will showcase the astonishingly diverse young musical talent of London today. Join us on October 31st at one of East London’s most popular venues for an evening of music to lift the heart and move the feet.
Produced by the world-renowned Grand Union Orchestra, this show features the Grand Union Youth Orchestra of East London – the GUYO - which aims to harness the talents and energies of London’s most adventurous young musicians, many of whose instruments and musical interests fall outside the remit of other youth orchestras. In the GUYO saz, sitar, Sarangi, erhu, steel pan, tabla and djembe rub shoulders with harp, saxophone, violin and bass guitar creating a sound that is electrifying and exhilarating.
From Silk Road to Carnival will be devised through half-term workshops and masterclassess on 28th, 29th and 30th October 2010 at the Hackney Empire, exploring musical styles including samba, salsa, calypso, soca, reggae, ska, West African chant, Turkish dance rhythms, Indian ragas and talas and Chinese folk songs … spiced up with jazz improvisation. These workshops are open to young musicians playing any instrument from any musical culture and are completely free. Those taking part will then perform in the live show at Stratford Circus on Sunday 31st October 2010.
Young musicians can register their interest in taking part in From Silk Road to Carnival at www.grandunionyouth.org.uk. To find out more contact Grand Union’s Youth Orchestra coordinator Hannah Turner on 020 7375 1122, hannah@grandunion.org.uk.