Pipa master Yang Wei and banjo player Ed Sweeney unite the music of two cultures in Westerly concert Sept. 5

WESTERLY, R.I. (AUG. 6, 2008) - The Westerly Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) celebrates the music of two cultures on Friday, Sept. 5, in a concert presented by guitar and banjo player Ed Sweeney and internationally renown pipa master Yang Wei. The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Westerly Friends Meetinghouse, 57 Elm St., Westerly, R.I.

Wei is an award-winning pipa player and recording artist who has performed solo throughout the world and as a member of cellist Yo-Yo Ma's groundbreaking Silk Road Ensemble. For many years - first in his native China and now as a U.S. citizen living in Chicago - Yang has been intrigued with marrying the sound of the pipa, an ancient Chinese string instrument, to traditional American music.

Ed Sweeney is a musician and recording artist based in Narragansett, R.I. He has traveled throughout the United States performing traditional music on guitar, banjo and twelve-string guitar.

In January of 2006, while performing in Chicago, Wei learned of Sweeney's banjo-playing expertise and their mutual interest in traditional music. Their concert is the result of that meeting.

For more information, contact Ed Sweeney, (401) 497-4675.

To learn more about Wei, go to his website, www.pipasensation.com, or to www.silkroadproject.org. To learn more about Sweeney, call (401) 497-4675 or send e-mail to oldharbor@verizon.net.