From China to Appalachia To Harwich: Mixed Cultural Concert Comes To Harwich’s 204

Once upon a time, a great band told the world, “All you need is love.” An upcoming concert at The 204 Municipal Arts Building shares a similar ethos. 

On Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., the first CranFest Presents concert of 2026 will feature From China to Appalachia. The trio, which performed last year in the series, consists of longtime friends and Grammy-winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer along with Chinese classical hammered dulcimer player Chao Tian. The group’s formation, according to a press release, “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.” Fink explained what the audience can expect from the show.

 “In a way every concert is its own party,” said Fink. “We have so much fun playing music together.”

Fink has partnered with Marxer for more than 40 years. According to their website, they’ve performed at hundreds of folk festivals, appeared on the “Today Show” and National Public Radio, they’ve been the keynote singers at the AFL-CIO, and even performed for the Queen of Thailand, among many other accomplishments. In this most recent formation, From China to Appalachia, they welcome in Tian, who Fink said she met in 2017 while working at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Md.

 “The Music Center at Strathmore has an artist in residence program, and people apply and audition to become part of this program, and we take six up and coming young artists a year, and in 2017, Chao Tian was one of our artists,” Fink said. Fink would become one of Tian’s advisors and mentors, and through that process they spent a lot of time together and ended up playing a lot of music. 

 “We ended up having so much fun we decided to start a band,” Fink said. 

They play a mashup of Chinese and Appalachian music, folk music and original songs. While the whole trio sings, they feature broad instrumentation with Marxer playing instruments like the four-string cello banjo, guitar, mandolin and ukulele. Fink is on the five-string banjo and the guitar. Tian plays the yangqin, a Chinese dulcimer that is tuned differently than its American counterpart. For the upcoming concert, Fink said they have a special addition to the concert, a crankie.

 “It’s a wooden box that holds a panorama,” she explained. “There’s a roll of artwork on this panorama. The great part is there is a crank at the top and you literally, by hand, crank this artwork to pass by people’s eyes. Chao Tian did 70 feet of original artwork to go with one of the Chinese songs that we do. It’s just gorgeous and fun.”

The CranFest presents series is organized by Harwich Cranberry Festival Music Director Bob Weiser. Bringing back From China to Appalachia for this year’s slate of events was an easy decision, he said.

 “Last year’s concert had people who had gone to considerable effort to contact me to let me know how disappointed they were that they had not brought many more people with them to the concert because it so far exceeded their expectations,” said Wieser. “When the opportunity presented itself, I thought, well it could be a good idea” to bring them back. 

The draw of the group, from Weiser’s perspective, is in the group’s inclusivity.

 “The From China to Appalachia concept, to me, is one that encourages people to see the human beings that are commonly being othered,” he said. “The message of reaching out and connecting with one another is needed urgently and is what I find hopeful in a time when it’s really easy from one day to the next to feel negative.” 

CranFest Presents is a series within the Harwich Cranberry Arts and Music Festival which will be celebrating its 50th year anniversary this year. The festival, which happens in September, is still in development, but promises to have a variety of attractions for the whole family, noted Weiser. More details on the festival and the remaining slate of CranFest Presents concerts can be found on the Harwich Cranberry Arts and Music Festival website as they are made available. 

General admission tickets for the Feb. 28 show are $25, with center seats $35. Both can be purchased online at harwichcranberryartsandmusicfestival.org. There is also a QR code attached to their advertisement in this edition that can take you to the ticketing portal.