By combining art and music from ancient Persia, Judith Frey allows audience members to take their own journey down the Silk Road.
"The music is set at a meditative pace so people can have an original experience," Frey said.
Frey, of Boulder, Colo., will be presenting "The Silk Road: Music, Art and Poetry from Istanbul to Samarqand" at the Carson City Library on Tuesday as part of Capital City Reads.
A musician and art historian, Frey has collected works from the countries along the Silk Road, the ancient trading route that linked Europe with China.
"It's a very interesting culture," Frey said. "The ancient Persian empire is now Islamic. I traveled to Central Asia and saw these exquisite mosaics of Islamic art with a Persian influence."
She has combined a DVD with a companion CD to unite the art and music.
"I felt putting music and art together provided a window into a state of mind," she said. "It's a consciousness of the natural world. Putting the two together really makes you feel the spiritual intent of these arts."
She said seeing the art is like "unfolding a moment of consciousness focused on the beauty of the world. You get the feeling you're in a Persian garden admiring the flowers and the moonlight."
The visual stimulation is complemented by the ancient music she described as "a call to prayer that's really affecting."
Frey has given her presentation at Yale and other universities across the country. It begins with a slideshow and lecture followed by the showing of her half-hour DVD.
The presentation is part of a series at the Carson City Library for the community reading project where all residents are encouraged to read "Three Cups of Tea."
The book chronicles Greg Mortenson's failed attempt to summit Pakistan's K2, but how the people in a small village there nursed him back to health.
He vowed to return and build a school and has since established a foundation that has constructed more than 100 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
A broadcast of Mortenson's visit to Carson will be aired on public access TV at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.