PLAY: Voices of AAPI is a live cross-cultural concert experience presented by Magic Eastern Ensemble in celebration of AAPI Heritage Month
upported by the City of Roswell and the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, this concert explores how traditional instruments can move beyond preservation and become part of contemporary musical life.
Led by Atlanta-based musician and founder Yao Lu, PLAY combines guzheng and bamboo flute with live band instrumentation, cinematic textures, jazz influences, ambient sound design, and modern crossover arrangements. Rather than framing traditional instruments as museum pieces or symbols of nostalgia, the concert approaches them as living instruments capable of evolving alongside contemporary audiences.
The performance features collaborations with guest artists from across Atlanta’s live music community, including musicians with backgrounds in jazz studies, commercial music, rock performance, orchestral performance, and contemporary music education.
Featured collaborators include:
Yao Lu — Founder & Music Director, Chinese bamboo flute and guzheng
Michael Solomon — Piano / Keyboard
Dustin Fichter — Electric Guitar
Dustin S. Williams — Bass
Sam Groveman — Drums
Yudian Yang — Violin
Among the featured artists, Yao Lu, Sam Groveman, and Yudian Yang currently teach at W.E. Music Academy, bringing both professional stage experience and music education practice into this concert.
Together, these artists bring influences from jazz, rock, cinematic music, orchestral performance, funk, R&B, and modern crossover performance into a shared live concert setting.
By bringing together musicians from different artistic backgrounds, PLAY: Voices of AAPI aims to create a concert experience that feels collaborative, modern, and emotionally accessible to audiences beyond traditional genre boundaries.
This concert is more than a performance — it is a celebration of cultural connection, artistic creativity, and the living voices of AAPI culture.
Event Information
PLAY: Voices of AAPI
Saturday, May 23, 2026
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Roswell Cultural Arts Center
950 Forrest St, Roswell, GA 30075
Tickets and information:
