East Meets West at HSU with Silk Road Junction 101

 According to two Fortuna musicians, the place that East meets West is Highway 101. On Saturday February 22, East and West will meet musically when their duo, Silk Road Junction 101, performs at Humboldt State’s Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 As Silk Road Junction 101, Sarah McClimon and Rahman Abdur perform an international array of music on both eastern and western instruments. She plays the flute, harmonium and the Japanese string instrument called the koto. He plays the South Asian tabla drums, which he began studying as a child in Bangladesh.

 “We draw on our experiences living in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Hawaii, and California to explore the rhythms and melodies of Asia and the United States,” Sarah explained. “The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that linked Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Highway 101 links three states along the U.S. West Coast. Our music is a junction between these worlds—old and new, East and West.” 

 Their program at HSU features music from Japan, the Middle East, South Asia and the West. Another Fortuna musician, Sherry Hanson, joins them on viola.

 Sarah McClimon grew up in Fortuna, where she studied piano with her mother, Ruth McClimon. She then studied flute at a college in the midwestern U.S. and the koto in Japan. With a PhD in ethnomusicology, she teaches at Fortuna High School and at HSU. 

 Rahman Abdur studied in India and Japan, also earning an ethnomusicology doctorate. He performs with a fusion ensemble (SquarPeg) and with the Scotia Band. 

 Silk Road Junction 101 performs on Saturday February 22 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. $10/$5 students and seniors, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This Guest Artists concert is produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Tri-City Weekly, Mad River Union, HSU Now