of cultures and traditions of people from all over the world.

In the 19th century, as America was growing, the single thing that brought people into contact with each other like never before, was the transcontinental railroad.

I've been working with the amazing musicians of Silk Road Ensemble to shine a light on the laborers, especially Irish, African-American, and Chinese, who did the backbreaking work of building America's railroad.

Their traditional music accompanied them as they made their way across the continent.

We also wanted to recognize the indigenous people whose ways of life were forever changed by the laying of tracks through their lands.

The result is our American Railroad project, the focus in this season of “My Music ”.

- May I have your attention please.

We're now beginning our boarding procedure for train number 72.

The Northbound Piedmont on platform number two.

Train 72 will make station stops at Burlington, Durham, Cary, and Raleigh.

All passengers ticketed for train 72, please go to the rear of the station, then up to platform level for boarding.

[Rhiannon speaks]- Maeve Gilchrist grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, but she comes from a long maternal line of Irish harpists.

She's rooted deeply in centuries-old tradition, but she's also embarked on a fearless exploration of just what a harp can really do.

♪ - Steel drivin' man, don't you see?

Steel drivin' man, don't you see?

Died with a hammer in his hand... Died with a hammer in his hand ♪ - Steel drivin' man, don't you see?

- Steel drivin' man, don't you see?

Died with a hammer in his hand Died with a hammer in his hand Died with a hammer in his hand Died with a hammer in his hand Died with a hammer in his hand Died with a hammer in his hand ♪ - Thank you for coming to my hometown.

- It's great to be here in the train station where so much life has passed by.

I know.

It's crazy.

And the way that this has been, it's kinda been restored to... it kind of, it takes you back to, kind of, times passed where this was it, you know.

There was no renting a car, it was hopping on the train.

This new project around the Transcontinental American Railroad, I think is the biggest historical project Silk Road has done.

And it's very exciting.

We're having a big, you know, show, concert, around this, and bringing people's experiences of their own tradition to celebrate all of the different cultures that went into and were affected by the railroad.

And it becomes this place where we are all learning more about each other's cultural histories, you know, where we were at Standing Rock, you know, hearing that story about the “Black Snake ” and what the, you know, what the — Oh yeah.

the train and the building of it did to those communities Being in California, hearing stories of, you know, of Chinese railroad workers.

You know, my deep work with, with African-American labor on the railroad, both paid and convict labor.

And I feel like we as an organization have actually strengthened by really digging deep in each other's traditions.

So can we kind of like, set the stage with like, you know, I know it's the obvious place to start, but why the harp?

Like, when did you know that was the instrument for you?

- So I grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland to a Scottish father and an Irish mother.

On my mother's side, her sisters, two of her sisters are professional harp players.

I've got cousins who are harp players.

So it was very much in the family as a folk instrument.

And then growing up in Edinburgh, my parents were very involved with the traditional music scene.

And being in that scene and growing up with that music, the harps were more accessible, you know, in America I found it's a very restricted instrument.

It's expensive, it's hard to locate.

They were easily rentable.

Some schools had them and it was just, it was on my radar as a sound in traditional music.

So it was an easy choice.

And I started with the piano, but you know, from the moment I got the harp, it was, it was a thing.

- So you pretty much like couldn't escape?

- No.

Couldn't escape the harp.

No.

And actually I have a twin sister growing up and when we were very young, my mom and dad thought I might be musical.

'cause I was drawn towards the piano and tinkling around and my sister wasn't.

So they thought, we'll give her, her name's Orna, we'll give Orna the harp 'cause it's such a nice sound that it doesn't matter if she's no good.

And we'll give Maeve the fiddle and she'll make a nice sound out of it.

And I immediately rebelled and said, no, I want the harp.

And so they groaned and they gave Orna the fiddle and she's a gorgeous fiddler.

I mean, it turned out - That's so funny.

Did they tell you that, that exactly?

- They they told us that now, you know, like after Orna has proven herself to be this fantastic musician... -Right.

but I, I think I was just the louder one of the two of us, so... Oh, that's hilarious.

Yeah.

And, and I think growing up with folk music of any kind, it's this, It's such a unique way of coming into music because there's such an emphasis on the social side of playing music and connecting.

And so from the moment that I was given the harp, I was thrown into jam sessions and I was making music with other people.

And that gave me a real sense of freedom with the instrument.

Especially when the focus isn't on you, you can play and explore.

And, and so that was my beginning and it was just joy in making music and making music with other people and conversing with other people through this instrument.

And then again, through traditional music, I got interested in improvisation.

And I think that's so important.

'cause people often associate improvisation with the genre of jazz or free improvisation when there's so much improvisation within traditional music forms of all kinds.

And in Scottish and Irish music, it would manifest in the constant mini tune variations, the ornamentation, the interpretation choices.

And so that was really my lead in into improvisation.

And I started getting more interested in harmony and what were these colors?

And I wanted to give names to the colors.

And that took me over the ocean to the Berklee College of Music.

-Okay.

-And I got interested in jazz and just like a bigger expanse of color and sounds.

And when I was there I met musicians from across the globe.

I met musicians from Colombia and Venezuela that had their own very vibrant harp tradition, musicians from Paraguay, Mexico.

And seeing them bringing their own traditional music to life made me really look back at my upbringing in a different way.

And, and kind of from there to now, it's been a it's been a journey which has brought me into contact with classical musicians and jazz musicians and indie pop artists.

But it's all through the lens of a traditional musician.

And I, I feel like I'm a folk musician.

That's what's, that's what I'm the most proud of being because it connects me with everybody.

And the important thing is the big picture and not individual mastery or conquering, which, you know, a robot can learn.

♪ - So I would love if you would tell us a little bit about your harp, because we have...you know, most people, they either know the concert version, which is enormous and it has a particular thing, or they, they kind of know a very shallow, like the Irish harp, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

Can you give us a a 3D picture?

- Heavenly, angelic.

- All true.

You've heard it all, I'm sure.

Yeah.

- When people say, they often say, oh, it's a mini harp.

So it's not a mini harp.

I mean, it is smaller than the, the western classical pedal harp.

But this is a pretty standard size for the newish version of a Celtic harp.

It's present in the music of Scotland, of Ireland, - And Wales.

- And Wales, absolutely.

Originally as a smaller instrument with wire strings played with the fingernail.

And it's kind of evolved, I'm sure in part following the fashions of western classical music in Europe at the time.

And people started to play with the finger.

As they wanted to shift keys and play with more chromaticism, they added these silver levers.

So that's how I get my sharps and flats.

But big differences from the pedal harp are the size, obviously, the levers at the top of the strings opposed to the pedals, which give you your sharps and flats in the pedal harp, but also the sound, there's a... the strings are thinner and there's a kind of a brightness.

So... - But, this style of harp, I mean, it's older than the, the concert harp.

Right?

The concert harp is descended from these instruments, right?

- Yes.

I mean, and this type of harp, or it's predecessor has existed in some shape or form for as long as we've had written history across the globe.

This is an instrument that has existed everywhere in the world.

- Yeah.

It's like, it's kind of with the bagpipes in that in America that has become a mythologized kind of “Those are Scottish instruments ”.

Scottish and Irish instruments.

But actually bagpipes are everywhere too.

-Yes.

- You know?

- Exactly.

- If you've got a sheep, - you've got bagpipes, you know -Right.

The other thing is that I think that something I wish more people knew is that they always talk about the fiddle as sort of the ancient, you know, Irish instrument when it's actually this.

- Absolutely.

Yes.

And the repertoire of this, this type of harp really developed on a separate track to that of the fiddle or the bagpipes for a long time.

I mean, this was a solo instrument.

This was a bardic instrument.

This was an instrument that was played exclusively by men who would travel around the country, write compositions for their hosts, share some music, share some stories, often share the news.

They weren't just instrumentalists, they were carriers of news and culture of the time.

So they were very important people.

In fact, harp players in Medieval Ireland held a much higher place in society than they do nowadays, Rhiannon.

[ Laughter ] - Let me tell you, I got some stories.

Yeah.

But it, but it's like, I think this is the kind of history that people need to know.

Yeah, yeah.

You know because it's connected to years and years and years of culture, language, politics, you know, all of those things.

And, you know, all resting in the beautiful wood.

- It's an instrument that's got such orchestrational potential, and it's just been put in this tiny little box.

- What drew you to Silk Road and, you know, how did you first start working with Silk Road and why did you want to, why did you want to say “Yes?

This sounds interesting.

” - I mean, I'd heard of Silk Road like everybody else.

I knew who Yo-yo Ma was.

I first connected with Silk Road in, I think, 2015 or 2016, when they were doing their global musician workshop.

And I was invited as a guest and there was a real emphasis on the philosophy behind the notes and why we're making music together.

And it felt very joyful.

But we connected on groove and we were able to improvise in the context of some of these traditions in a way that felt good for everybody.

And this feels so unique to Silk Road.

I think it's the only musical organization that I am aware of that focuses purely on those intersections.

You know, it's about that beautiful thin place, like the “thin place ” that you'll know about in Ireland, the place between Heaven and Earth or the real and the unreal.

And it's a place where all parties can live as equal and in Silk Road, I think that manifests as at its best, something that's bigger than all of our parts.

Right.

It's such a beautiful way of looking at it.

You know, we're all having a conversation, but to have that conversation, we're all using different languages.

So we have to find those — that thin area where we all understand what's going on.

- Yes.

And it, the “thin place ” is such an exercise in humility because all of us in Silk Road come from real strength in our respective traditions, or even our tradition just being who we are as a musician now, which I think resonates with me most clearly.

But we all have chops or skills or whatever, but that's... the best music is never when one person is standing strongest in their respective musical shoes, it's always when we can all let go of what we thought we were gonna bring and can truly be in that deep listening, magical place of creating something in the moment.

-Yeah.

- You, for obvious reasons, will not be able to join us for our fall tour.

But the other thing that's special about Silk Road, of course is, is the creation of new music, which is very exciting.

In that there are different folks who have been creating pieces pulling from these different influences and these different cultural groups.

And you're obviously representing Ireland in this endeavor and have created a beautiful piece called "Far Down Far."

So I would love for you to kind of talk about the process of where that came from when you started thinking about what to create for the concert.

- Sure.

I wanted a seat that felt relevant to the turn of the century era when Irish migration was at its peak.

And so I found a jig called the Far Down Farmer in the O'Neill's collection, Francis O'Neill's collection of Irish dance Tunes being one of the preeminent collections of dance tunes from the turn of the century.

And O'Neill himself was a Irish born immigrant to Chicago musician, tune collector, and also superintendent of the very early and a bit disorganized police force that was Chicago at the turn of the century.

So I chose this jig, it's called the "Far Down Farmer," because it referred to the name that the Catholic workers were sometimes given by the Protestants within the... the railroad workers ranks.

And often the Catholic workers were the more economically depressed ones.

So it was a slightly derogatory term.

And we took this melody and we snipped it up into different motifs.

And in this piece, which very much evolves away from the melody, although you'll hear it at the very beginning, we're using the notes of the original melody as if we were building a train track.

We're tossing the melody between instruments and layering and creating these kind of layers of, of polyrhythm and counter melody to hopefully create the motion of the train.

So the composition really serves, hopefully, as a tribute to those on both sides of the religious and the cultural divide and pays tribute to the backbreaking work of the men that were working.

♪ ♪ [ Applause ]