Silk Road Ensemble Cellist Mike Block to Perform, Meet with Students

Cellist Mike Block, a member of the internationally acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble as well as a singer and composer in his own band, will spend several days working with string students at Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan from Feb. 22 to 24.   He will complete his time on campus with a free 8 p.m. concert Feb. 24 in Kemp Recital Hall.

Block, who is the son of Illinois State Director of Orchestras Glenn Block, is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Silk Road Ensemble is a collective of approximately 60 internationally renowned musicians, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers from more than 20 countries whose focus is cross-cultural exchange.  International award-winning musician and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma is the founder and artistic director of Silk Road Ensemble.

In addition to his work with the Silk Road Ensemble, Block performs regularly with Grammy Award-winning fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor as the cellist in O'Connor's Appalachia Waltz Trio.  Block also plays in many genres and groups including his The Mike Block Trio, for which he sings and writes.  The Trio created two albums last year. He has recorded on albums for Lenny Kravitz, Joe Zawinul, The Working Title and Jaymay.

Block will begin his Twin Cities tour with a 5 p.m. concert Sunday, Feb. 22, at Illinois Wesleyan.  Over the next two days, he will work with composition and string students at IWU and intro to music, cello and composition students at Illinois State.