Beyond The Silk Road is nothing less than a genre-bending cross-cultural musical experience by Hiroko Mina (Hiroko Minakami), a classically-trained pianist/composer from Japan. Since 1996, she has performed more than 3000 concerts around the world and has earned a global fanbase that nicknamed her “Queen of Classical Crossover” for her innovative fusion of classical musical styles with original compositions, tango, folk and gypsy melodies as well as her engaging stage presence. I couldn’t figure out why I’d never heard of her, but of her fourteen albums, Beyond The Silk Road is the first to be released in the US. Keep them coming, please!

Hiroko began playing the piano by ear at the age of three and started formal piano lessons at the age of six. She studied at Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo and at the Moscow Conservatory, and made her professional debut in 1989 in Melbourne, Australia. Her autobiography became a best-seller in Japan and Hiroko actively performs using pianos that survived the Hiroshima bombing. Her story is fascinating, and so is her music!

Beyond The Silk Road begins with “Wings of Celestial Maiden,” which features jazz bassist Ron Carter and Noh, a traditional Japanese performing art. Sung in Japanese (Mamiko Uchiwa), the piece feels very dark and mysterious. Piano and bass add to the expressive drama of the song - a unique and very impressive beginning! “Sky Voice - Carried by the Wind” has a more western classical feeling with piano, vocals and chirping bird sounds. What makes it really different is the Mongolian throat singing where one performer (Liu Wei) can produce two voices simultaneously. “Silk Road Reverie” begins as s a gorgeous classically-styled duet for piano and cello (Harutoshi Ito). Dark and very passionate, it grabbed my attention right away! To my surprise, after a minute or so, the mood suddenly lightens and brightens dramatically, becoming almost playful, with percussion and a number of other instruments dancing through about the midpoint of the piece. Then the music becomes very serious again, but with the full ensemble - musical magic from start to finish! “Floating Temple” is serenity set to music with piano, string bass, and synth. “Moonlit Oasis” is something of a nod to Beethoven and is a gorgeous duet for piano and pan flute (Susumu Otsuka). I could listen to this one all day! “Snow in the Desert” is an incredibly expressive piano solo that varies from gentle and sparkling to dark and tumultuous - stunning! “Shangri-la” begins as a lively piano solo in the first movement, bringing in synth accompaniment (strings and other symphonic instrumentation) to paint a musical picture of paradise - very colorful and cinematic! The third movement returns to the very soulful and graceful solo piano to the end. “Nomad to Rome” features Calin Farcasel on flute and Nicusor Mardarescu on oboe in addition to the piano - elegant, dreamy and just a bit mysterious. The album closes with “The Path Beyond Infinity” with piano, vocals (Uchiwa) and synth (Tsutsumi). Very dark, mournful and dramatic, it would be interesting to know the story behind it, but the artists leave it up to the listeners to decide.

Beyond The Silk Road is an amazing work of art from the first note to the last. It is available to stream or download from Amazon and Apple Music/iTunes as well as on streaming platforms including Spotify and Pandora.