MISTY HORIZONS

One intriguing step is the possible creation of a new class in the Core Curriculum that would focus on the Silk Road. Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History Mark C. Elliott, co-teacher of Historical Studies A-13 “China: Traditions and Transformations,” has said that he and Shelemay want to lead such a course together.

“Ideally, it will involve art history…as well as the politics, the actual trade, the commerce that went on, and the civilizational circles that cross and re-cross,” says Elliott. Shelemay has confirmed this intention and says the two of them are in the early stages of preparing a proposal for the course.

But Gordon thinks the Silk Road residency is coming at a time when the shifting nature of the Core Curriculum may put the values of the Project at stake for the community at large: “The new curriculum is not likely to have a requirement like Foreign Cultures, nor a Historical Studies requirement per se…so a program like this is great.”

He cautions, however, that really making the SRP a part of the curriculum may be a challenge.

“Practically, there’s got to be the people on the faculty who are willing to make it happen,” he said.

Tatar has put together a board of six faculty advisors, including Kelly and Shelemay, dedicated to meeting in the near future to discuss exactly how the residency will be conducted. There are some prospects for a textile exhibit at the Fogg Museum, and possible involvement with the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, but these ideas have yet to fully materialize.

“I think the great thing about this project is that we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” says Tatar. “There’s room for improvisation and experimentation.” She says she will meet with the advisory board in the near future to discuss ways for students to help guide the process.

The SRP does have an administrative office at the Wadsworth House in the Yard, and students are free to offer advice by visiting the SRP’s website or e-mailing the board. But Freid foresees some difficulties amidst the excitement of improvised input. “In a decentralized university, it’s hard to get the word out,” she says.

One student, Laurence H.S. Coderre ’07, a joint Music and East Asian Studies concentrator, is somewhat cynical about the residency. “While I am still very much a fan of the residency,” she says, “I do not think that it will remedy the lack of instruction of East Asian music in the department.”

Shelemay, a former head of the Music Department, has a different characterization of the situation. “I think [the residency] surely takes us a distance towards establishing these sorts of courses [in non-Western music].”

Megan, of the OFA, agrees. “I think there’s been a real progression towards non-Classical and non-Western forms on campus,” he says. “It’s not so much that anything was missing; it’s that we’ve been given an opportunity.”

Yo-Yo Ma writes that the journey, however uncertain, is going to be made rich, not so much by the Ensemble, but by what Harvard students can offer up. “From the sight-reading abilities of the students who came to the [reading sessions], 95% of whom were not music majors, to the great questions and comments we got from students in the classes, to the amazing enthusiasm and energy of the jam session, everywhere we went we could feel the intelligence and open-mindedness of Harvard undergraduates,” Ma wrote.

That mix of student influence and professional talent, like the mix of East and West on the Silk Road, may lead to any number of fusions in the future. The Silk Road Ensemble is used to making it up as they go along; improvisation and the combination of ancient melody with new ideas is the bedrock of what they do.

So, it shouldn’t be too surprising that no one is too sure about the form that their five-year residency at Harvard will take. Shelemay felt the situation could be summed up in a quotation from late composer Lou Harrison, known for his fusion of Eastern and Western styles: “Cherish the hybrids—they’re all we’ve got.”

—Contributing writer Jonathan M. Hanover contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Abe J. Riesman can be reached at riesman@fas.harvard.edu