GRAMMY®Award winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer join with Chinese classical hammered dulcimer player 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 group’s repertoire includes traditional Chinese and Appalachian music as well as contemporary and traditional music from around the world. All three artists are composers and songwriters widening the scope of their offerings.

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 toured via Mid-Atlantic Tours in 2023-2024 and has been on the road since from California to North Carolina, Canada to New England. Their debut self-titled album topped both the folk radio charts and Billboard bluegrass charts.

TWO-TIME GRAMMY® Award Winners, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are master musicians with a career spanning 45 years. Their superb harmonies are backed by instrumental virtuosity on a long list of instruments. Happily known as “social music conductors” ready to start a jam session, a community sing, or create a music camp helping
others learn to play and sing, the duo’s past students include Kaki King and Rhiannon Giddens.

Chao Tian was 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.

With their mission of creating a shared sense of cultural belonging, the trio creates an inclusive joy filled musical experience!

“The music is simply sublime, captivating, and above all,
vastly entertaining… an enthralling performance music
that perfectly distills the adage that music knows no boundaries. And, Cathy, Marcy, and Chao are superb storytellers to boot.”
~ Diana B. Ingraham, Executive Director, Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital