Ideas change everything

Building US-China relations ... by banjo

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Abigail Washburn |

TED2012

• February 2012

Abigail Washburn wanted to be a lawyer improving US-China relations -- until she picked up a banjo. The TED Fellow tells a moving story of the connections she's formed touring across the US and China while playing that banjo and singing in Chinese.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Abigail Washburn wanted to be a lawyer improving US-China relations -- until she picked up a banjo. The TED Fellow tells a moving story of the connections she's formed touring across the US and China while playing that banjo and singing in Chinese.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

About the speaker

Abigail Washburn

Clawhammer banjo player

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Abigail Washburn pairs venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, creating results that feel both strangely familiar and unlike anything anybody's ever heard before.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.