Saturday: 4:45 p.m. Two Rivers; Sunday: 2:45 p.m. Two Rivers

Upon arriving in the United States in 1996, Yang Wei and Betty Xiang were immediately recognized as virtuosos of extraordinary ability, masters of the ancient Chinese pipa (lute) and erhu (violin). This husband-and-wife duet has been embraced by world music enthusiasts and classical audiences as well.

The duo has performed in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble. The pair has performed at the Ravinia Music Festival, Alice Tully Hall and Tanglewood. They have served as artists-in-residence at the Chicago Art Institute’s Taoism and the Arts of China exhibit in Chicago and recently were awarded the Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship.

Yang Wei started learning to play Chinese musical instruments at age 6. By age 13, he concentrated his efforts in mastering the pipa, a fretted, pear-shaped, plucked or strummed lute with a 3 1/3-octave range and a history of more than 2,000 years.

He was tutored by several of the great pipa masters in China, including professor Dehai Liu, principal of the Chinese Conservatory of Music. He has been a soloist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the National Taipei Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and has performed concerts in Belgium, France, Malaysia and Japan. Yang also has won many awards in music competitions over the years.

Betty Xiang was trained by her late father, Zuying Xiang, a renowned erhu soloist and professor at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The erhu is a two-stringed Chinese violin with a history of about 1,000 years. It is played with a bow passing between the strings, which usually are tuned to D and A, and its tonal range covers three octaves. It is the primary melody instrument in traditional Chinese ensembles.

At age 17, Betty made her solo debut with the National Shanghai Orchestra. She appeared as a soloist with orchestras in France, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. She has had solo appearances with the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, won numerous awards in nationwide Chinese music competitions, and made a number of erhu solo and concerto recordings.