Ascending Bird, composed in 2007, is a joint effort by composer and violinist Colin Jacobsen and Iranian composer and santur (a hammered dulcimer popular in Iran) player Siamak Aghaei, colleagues in the Silk Road Ensemble. It is an arrangement of an old Persian folk tune – a version of the phoenix myth – which tells the popular legend of a bird attempting to fly to the sun. After two failed attempts, the bird finally makes contact with the sun, losing its physical body in fire, and in this way achieving a metaphorical spiritual transcendence.

The music starts gently, and gradually ramps up by adding more instruments, leading to an ecstatic finish. The instrumentation is flexible, including traditional instruments whenever available.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, Colin Jacobsen is a founding member of the innovative Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, as well as The Knights Chamber Orchestra. He is also since 2000 a touring member of Yo-Yo ma's Silk Road Project.