National Sawdust Presents: Silkroad Up-Close featuring Shaw Pong Liu and Sandeep Das

National Sawdust Presents: Silkroad Up-Close is a National Sawdust–hosted performance series in Brooklyn that brings Silkroad’s cross-cultural chamber ethos into an intimate setting. Drawing on the nonprofit ensemble founded by Yo-Yo Ma, the programs pair contemporary-classical writing with improvisatory practice and close listening.

Silkroad is a not-for-profit ensemble launched in 1998 by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, built around collaboration across musical lineages linked, in spirit, to the old Eurasian trade routes. In New York City, the group has brought its “Silkroad Up-Close” format to National Sawdust, foregrounding small-group encounters rather than large-scale spectacle.

Shaw Pong Liu is a classical musician whose work often moves between composed repertoire and collaborative, cross-cultural performance. In New York City she has appeared at National Sawdust, including National Sawdust Presents: Silkroad Up-Close, alongside tabla player and composer Sandeep Das as part of the Silkroad network initiated by Yo-Yo Ma.