Kayhan Kalhor

The three members of the Rembrandt Trio, after fifteen years of touring the world together, found themselves grounded in The Netherlands when the world came to a standstill in 2020. Known for their curiosity-driven approach to music, incorporating many different musical cultures into their work and collaborating with grandmasters from different countries and continents (most notably with Persian grandmasters Hossein Alizadeh and Kayhan Kalhor) - the trio was now forced to stay put, stop performing, travelling and collaborating.

Traditional Vietnamese songs arranged by the Grammy awarded Silkroad Ensemble from the PBS film The ""Vietnam War: A Film By Ken Burns & Lynn Novick."

On their 2000 release, the Kronos Quartet has appeared with an album worthy of their name. On Caravan, the quartet uses songs from the world round, with all of them rearranged as needed to fit a string quartet. There are compositions from Yugoslavia ("Pannonia Boundless"), Portugal ("Cancao Verdes Anos" and "Romance No. 1"), India ("Aaj Ki Raat"), Mexico ("La Muerte Chiquita"), Turkey ("Turceasca"), Romania, Hungary, Iran, Lebanon, and Argentina. There are guest artists left and right on the album: Hindustani tabla great Zakir Hussain aids on the Bollywood work "Aaj Ki Raat" (Tonight's the Night). Taraf de Haidouks, a gypsy ensemble, provides extra violins and accordions on "Turceasca" to make the work outright exhilarating.

Continuing their explorations on Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble go even deeper into cross-cultural studies on this 2005 soundtrack album. Produced for a 10-part series on Japan's NHK television network, the CD's 15 tracks are arranged in three suites, entitled Enchantment, Origins, and New Beginnings, more reflective of inherent musical affinities than of the way the music was used in the program. The musicians tap into the variously overlapping musical styles of lands stretching from China and India to Iran and Turkey, and the arrangements by Zhao Jiping and Zhao Lin include a mix of instruments from around the world, to add greater color and sonic dimensions. The album's exotic and meditative qualities may attract fans of both international and new age music, though there is perhaps little crossover appeal for Ma's classical devotees.