Chinese musician seeks to make ancient instrument relevant to modern times

In a joint performance in April by Charles Riley and Ron Miles, audiences inside a packed hall at University of North Carolina, watched the American duo's street dance moves that originated in the 1980s. Accompanying the dancers at the show was the unfamiliar sound of the sheng, which was played by Wu Tong.

Wu, 43, produced a vibrating sound with the at least 3,000-year-old wind instrument in step with the fast-paced dance numbers.

The musician, who comes from a prominent family of makers of such musical instruments in Beijing, has spent decades giving the sheng a modern relevance.