The completion of the transcontinental railroad stands as a remarkable feat. In 1850, the United States had a mere 10,000 miles of track; by 1900, an extensive network of 215,000 miles carried people, goods, and ideas across the nation. Historians have now started to assess the human cost associated with this massive construction project, particularly for those who endured the dangerous and arduous labor and the Native tribes whose lands and ways of life were disrupted by the tracks.

The Silkroad Ensemble's "American Railroad": A Multimedia Journey Through History

Anchoring the Program with "Swannanoa Tunnel"

A haunting tune from Appalachia, "Swannanoa Tunnel," forms the core of this evening's multimedia storytelling. This work song, created by incarcerated Black laborers, vividly describes the tragic cave-in of a railroad tunnel. Rhiannon Giddens, a musical virtuoso and scholar of Appalachian music, sang it with a voice filled with raw emotion against a backdrop of intense percussive thuds. Her performance demonstrated the power and depth of the Silkroad Ensemble's artistry.The ensemble's ability to blend different musical lineages in beguiling ways was on full display. Through the joyful collaboration of brilliant improvisers, it became evident that the ensemble still retains its vibrant spirit even after Rhiannon Giddens became the artistic director in 2020. The Silkroad Ensemble, founded in 1998 by Yo-Yo Ma to celebrate the cultures along the ancient Silk Road, continues to push the boundaries of musical expression.

Tributes to Dispossessed Communities

Individual numbers in the program paid homage to dispossessed Native Americans, Irish famine refugees, and Chinese laborers separated from their families by racist immigration laws. Each cultural context was deftly depicted through specific sounds - a Celtic harp, a pentatonic tune - and the interplay of instruments from different regions revealed new connections. Historical photographs projected above the stage added a visual dimension of poignancy, enhancing the overall impact of the performance.However, at times, the program had a didactic quality that seemed at odds with the polycentric nature of the music-making. For instance, the inclusion of an Indian-inspired segment with fiery tabla solos by Sandeep Das was a musical highlight. But the accompanying text slide, which drew links between the transcontinental railroad and industrialization in British-ruled India, felt a bit too instructional. The Silkroad Ensemble is involved in curriculum design in middle schools in underserved communities across the country, and in moments like these, the desire (stated in its publications) to "reset the narrative" in historiography came across as a bit heavy-handed.