Anthony Pocetti, a jazz pianist, was blown away by the Chinese musicians he heard perform at the third Annual Golden Peony Art Festival in New Jersey on Tuesday night.

"I'd never heard a performance of guzheng at such a high level," Pocetti said. "After hearing it, I'm interested in finding the song and listening to it over and over again. It's like nothing I hear in America. As a composer, I want to incorporate some ideas from the music - melody, rhythm, harmony - into my music."

The traditional Chinese guzheng is a plucked-string musical instrument with more than 2,500 years of history and a beautiful sound.

Angie Ngai, the executive director of the Chinese-American Family Coalition, said music is the best language for communication and cultural exchange, as it has no barriers.

To be sure, it is difficult to get people to see something they don't know, said Pocetti.

"What's important is to experience and to see people from China play traditional music," he said. "It can inspire us to investigate more into other cultures."

Pocetti's interest in Chinese music started a year ago when he joined the Chinese-American Family Coalition as a teacher and got to hear recordings of Chinese music.

Liu Xiaoyin, a Chinese teacher of guzheng and erhu in New Jersey, said almost all her students are from families with a Chinese background. "The instruments are very new to American ears," Liu said.

Eight-year-old Esther Li has been learning guzheng for nearly a year and got interested in it when she saw someone play one at the learning center.

She said few people around her play any Chinese instrument. "Most of them are not Asians and some play piano," Li said. "I don't tell them about my lessons, because it is a little bit hard for them to understand it and I'm also concerned that people will feel strange about the instrument."

"It is kind of hard to play," Li added. "When you first start, your fingers become tense but as you play more, you become more relaxed. But it takes a very long time to do it."

Li performed in a competition as part of the festival, where students from China and the US presented a mixture of Chinese and American music on Tuesday.

"I think they are a little better than me and I want to learn more from them," Li said.

Elena Fedorova, who has been teaching music for 12 years, also brought her students to the competition.

"We need to bring more people to participate in such festivals so as to have more kids playing," she said. "I really think I need to bring more students next year. It is a good experience for the kids."

The art festival was concluded with a concert at Old Library Theater Fair Lawn on Tuesday night featuring winners of the competition and musicians from china and the US.

Lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn