After a year of concerts, exhibitions and other events meant to link the cultures of East and West, the Silk Road Project ends its Chicago residency June 5 evening with a musical fable for a storyteller and some 600 musicians. The performance, titled "The Stone Horse Project," is a tale about a magical piece of embroidered silk. It's a collaboration between cellist Yo Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from the city's public schools. The schoolchildren were trained on their instruments and taught their assigned rhythmic patterns by Silk Road Ensemble members and volunteers.
The Chinese folk tale is about about a peasant woman who makes the wondrous embroidery and her three sons who search for it after it is stolen by the envious wind. The two younger sons succumb to fear and greed, and fail. But the youngest son succeeds with the help of a magical stone horse who comes to life and carries him safely through a world of dangers.
The Stone Horse will be performed at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. General admission is free. (Source: F.N. D'Alessio, AP, Chicago Tribune, Jun 2, 2007).