It’s a musical storytelling of each of us,” says Haruka Fujii, the associate artistic director of Silkroad Ensemble. “We are celebrating our different origins, history, backgrounds, sisters, families and societies.”

Along with multi-percussionist Fujii, the program features a unique team of musicians from around the world: lap-steel slide guitarist and vocalist Pura Fé, Celtic harpist and vocalist Maeve Gilchrist, cellist Karen Ouzounian, and violinist-vocalists Layale Chaker and Mazz Swift.

Demonstrating harmony

Founded in 2000 by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Silkroad Ensemble was born from the curiosity of “what happens when strangers meet.” Composed of multicultural members from various musical backgrounds – ranging from classical and jazz to folk traditions – the ensemble at its core embodies multicultural harmony.

“The beautiful part of Silkroad [is] it’s almost like a living form that keeps evolving,” adds Fujii. “We all carry different strengths and [messages] or [stories], and we weave a new harmony that’s brand new.”

All the pieces in Uplifted Voices were composed by the artists or are original songs that they arranged and adopted for the ensemble. Fujii explains that as there are no pieces specifically written for the marimba, lap steel guitar and Celtic harp, the members write their own music.

“Because of this amazing opportunity that Silkroad has been giving us, you get to put in all the creativities and [solve] the puzzle pieces as an artist,” she says.

Fujii highlights the meaningful process behind bringing together the indispensable ideas and characteristics of each member. She says that the ensemble strives to not only create harmony within the group but also convey that message to the audience.

“For example, I’m originally from Japan and Pura Fé is Tuscarora and completely different, but there is always some commonality that we can find throughout the process of making music,” she says. “We demonstrate through music how we can be inspired by each other, and learn from things that are outside of our boundaries.”

Transcending the concert hall

In addition to attending the concert with an open mind, Fujii hopes the audience will observe and absorb the harmonical conversation that is displayed on stage.

“I’m sure you can almost start imagining the process of how we put this together,” she says. “One brings in the original simple song, and one brings in the approach to make it layered with the rhythm and harmony and texture.”

Audiences can also look forward to the show’s improvisational elements, as the artists are exploring and incorporating new elements ranging from duet performances to choreography.

“We are just exchanging the ideas and by the time we get there, we’ll have a full piece,” says Fujii.

Fujii is excited for all the performances that make up Uplifted Voices. She mentions Fé’s celebration of her ancestors and her people, Gilchrist’s Scottish music elements and Chaker’s Arabic Maqam training. Swift’s “O Shout!,” honours their African American origin and Ouzounian’s “Der Zor” pays tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

“It is really global vocabularies of music that you will hear in many ways,” she adds.

On her own piece “Tamping Song,” Fujii celebrates Japanese immigrants’ contribution to the construction of the U.S. transcontinental railroad.

In a world where there are endless divisive factors and differences in thinking, Silkroad Ensemble strives to connect and unite both inside and outside of the concert hall, aiming beyond aesthetic pleasures.

“I believe that when people experience [harmony] – not as like the information you can get online or something that you can just read – but to feel it through your skin in person, the message goes just so strongly and directly to your heart,” says Fujii.

For more information on the upcoming concert, see: www.chancentre.com/events/silkroad-ensemble-uplifted-voices

For more information on Silkroad Ensemble, see: www.silkroad.org