Late bloomer, and how

A Chinese-American civil engineer turns composer in his 50s, mixing folk sounds of Northeast China with Western symphony, Chen Mengwei reports.

A Chinese-American composer holding concerts in Seattle or Beijing? Such events aren't as uncommon today as they were, perhaps, even a decade ago. But would you be surprised to know that the composer worked as a civil engineer for most of his adult life, only learning symphonic composition at age 48?

Meet Huang Xiaofeng, also known as Austin Huang, 58, the man who fuses Chinese folk music with Western classical symphony.