Sino-American Jam: Silk & Bamboo Meets Old-Time Music

This concert brings together two community-rooted musical traditions: silk-and-bamboo (Jiangnan sizhu) music from China and old-time music from the United States. The term “silk and bamboo” (丝竹) refers to ensembles built around silk-stringed lutes and bamboo flutes in the Jiangnan region, where musicians often gather in teahouses to shape melodies together through subtle variation and attentive listening. The atmosphere is intimate, conversational, and deeply social.

“Old-time music” grew from the Anglo-Celtic fiddle traditions brought to North America by immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, and England, along with other Germanic and European folk lineages. Over generations, these musical practices took root especially in the Appalachian Mountains, where they developed into a participatory music played on fiddles, banjos, and other acoustic instruments, passed on by ear, sustained in family gatherings, porch sessions, and local dances.

Featuring Zhou Yi (pipa) and Miao Yimin (di) alongside Eli Hetko (banjo) and Jaden Gladstone (fiddle), this program includes traditional pieces from each lineage as well as collaborative arrangements created especially for this concert. To honor the communal spirit at the heart of both traditions, the performance concludes with an open jam. Audience members who play either style are invited to join, celebrate musical exchange, and continue the conversation together.

Miao Yimin (缪宜民) is a Shanghai-born Chinese flutist who began studying the di at age nine with the renowned master Yu Xunfa. He performed with the Shanghai Traditional Orchestra before moving to New York in 1996, where he founded the Ba Ban Chinese Music Society to promote Chinese traditional music. Miao has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He presents concerts across North America, blending traditional di artistry with contemporary musical sensibilities and fostering cultural exchange between East and West.

Zhou Yi (周懿) is a Shanghai-born soloist of the pipa, praised by The Washington Post for her “breathtaking” technique and expressiveness. She began studying the pipa at age five and gave her first public recital at six. A graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, she later moved to New York, where she has premiered works by leading composers and performed with major ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. Zhou is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Ba Ban Chinese Music Society, dedicated to Chinese and cross-cultural music.

Jaden Gladstone is a Vermont-born old-time musician now based in New York City. Immersed in Appalachian mountain music from childhood, he has over twenty years of experience performing nationally on fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. Known for his work in old-time, bluegrass, and traditional country projects, he is a fixture at community jams and festivals, including the Flatfoot Flatbush Old Time Jam in Brooklyn. Gladstone brings energetic string-band tradition into contemporary settings, offering both deep roots and fresh vitality in his playing.

Eli Hetko is a banjo, guitar, and mandolin player based in New York City. He has played for concerts and dances in a number of traditional and not-so-traditional ensembles, including Peter Stampfel’s Ether Frolic Mob, the rembetiko group Dervisi, and as a backing musician for the City Stompers and NYC Barn Dance. Eli has taught banjo and guitar privately and at Jalopy Theater and School of Music. Selected performances have included the Brooklyn Folk Festival and Hillbilly Days in Pikeville, Kentucky.