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Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer join Chao Tian in a show that combines music from China to Appalachia and beyond. Instrumentation includes yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, guitars, dumbek, cello-banjo and mandolin. The trio will release their debut CD this September. The group’s repertoire includes traditional Chinese and Appalachian music as well as contemporary and traditional music from around the world. Unusual combinations explore new arrangements to old music, such as “Dark Eyes.” Ukulele, yangqin and guitar create a new pallet for this Russian folk song turned jazz manouche tune. Cathy & Marcy join Chao in singing a Chinese lullaby, “Nani Wan” and Chao easily adds her love of American Old-Time music to fiddle tunes and songs. From China to Appalachia was borne of a friendship and mutual love of musical exploration experienced in jam sessions that inspired a show speaking to the power of music to connect cultures. The trio’s inaugural performances include the Music Center at Strathmore, the Ashe Civic Center in North Carolina, and Hill Center. On their own, they have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, on PBS, and National Public Radio. Cathy & Marcy are master musicians with a career spanning 40 years. Their superb harmonies are backed by instrumental virtuosity on the guitar, five-string banjo, ukulele, mandolin, cello-banjo, and more. They have performed at hundreds of bluegrass and folk festivals and taught at close to 100 music camps worldwide.

Classically trained since the age of five, Chao Tian spent years working as an instructor and the director of the Arts Education Center at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). She is a founding member of BLCU Arts College’s music department and was appointed as an officer of the International Culture Exchange Program in 2019. Chao has performed in over 30 different countries and regions across the globe and collaborated with numerous talented musicians in many unprecedented projects.  She was a member of the storied Twelve Girls Band, an all female ensemble that garnered international fame. In 2015, she was accepted into the prestigious Artist in Residence program at the Music Center at Strathmore, where she met Cathy Fink. Cathy has served as a mentor-in-residence in that program for nineteen years.

Cathy & Marcy & Chao’s 2023 Hill Center concert sold-out quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase tickets.