Their fingers patiently patter down the steel strings, backs straight across onto the chair as the soothing sounds of music punctuate the air. The blissful melodies cascade across the room as the girls continue their duet. The audience’s eyes are captivated by the stage as the sisters continue their performance. 

Sophomore Cleo Wang and sister Claire started a musical group, The Ruan Sisters, where they share their passion for the ancient Chinese instrument ruan with Central Texas and the world. Wang has performed at a variety of different venues including libraries, companies, and universities. 

“I started with piano,” Wang said. “I then moved onto playing ruan at age nine or 10.”

Wang started playing the piano at age five and notes this as the start of her musical experience. Even in high school, Wang uses music as an outlet to help her process emotions and find peace in her daily life. 

“I like to play music to express my feelings,” Wang said. “If I’m happy I can play very joyful songs, if I am sad and I don’t feel good I can play piano to express my feelings. When I am playing music I don’t have to think about anything and that makes me feel relaxed.”

Music has been an important part of Wang’s upbringing – the sophomore playing three instruments in total as well as being a member of the choir program on campus. Before moving to Austin, Wang began her musical journey in Shanghai where she took part in instrumental music from a young age. 

“I grew up in Shanghai, China and in that school every fourth grader was required to attend a music class. Within that you were allowed to choose an eastern instrument or a western instrument.” Wang said.

Wang wanted to choose an eastern instrument to further expand her knowledge of music and chose ruan, a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. Ruan can be traced back to as early as the Han dynasty and has been played in China for around 2,000 years. Despite this, Wang stated that ruan is not an extremely popular instrument and ruan’s arcane quality inspired her to pick it up. 

“I chose ruan because it is not well known in China and I felt like it would be cool if I could master it,” Wang said. “After I started playing I realized that I really enjoyed playing it and that it was completely different from piano.”

Wang continued to play the ruan throughout her formative years, eventually inspiring her younger sister to join her in playing the instrument. The sophomore reflects on having the opportunity to play music with her younger sister. 

“My sister also learned how to play ruan and we started to play together,” Wang said. “Oftentimes, we would record videos of me playing and then we would play the piano together and create a mini band or orchestra.”

When Wang moved to Austin from Shanghai she was determined to keep up her musical studies. After moving, she discovered that very few people have heard ruan and saw an opportunity to share a piece of her musical ability and cultural identity with Texans. 

“Me and my sister figured out that in Austin no one has ever seen ruan before,” Wang said. “We then founded a band called Ruan Sisters. At first, we started to reach out to local libraries and nursing homes to get feedback. We played in multiple areas and people started to notice us.”

One of Wang’s favorite parts of establishing a business was refining their techniques to get more show opportunities.

“We decided to make our band more professional after reaching out to the first few places,” “We made our own website and business card. We made a lot of posters and adapted our ways of reaching out to the businesses.”

Cleo and sister Claire have performed at a variety of different establishments, including libraries and events across Central Texas. The group recently performed at Emerson, a musical instrument company, and have plans to perform at libraries across the Austin area later this year. 

“We were invited to many different organizations and even the University of Texas at Austin,” Wang said. “Our music got exposed to different areas and I am very proud of how we came to Austin and kept playing ruan.”

Wang plays the ruan with her sixth grade sister Claire, taking part in various duet pieces during their performances. Wang reflects on the role that music has had on the relationship with her sister. 

“Playing music allows me and my sister to have more time together,” Wang said.“We have to practice [for our band] so that there can be coordination. That is when I figured out that she is the only person who will completely know what I am thinking and I am the only person who will know what she is thinking. We are the best match and playing instruments enhances that connection.”

Aside from strengthening her bond with her sister Wang also believes that playing ruan allows her to stay connected with her Chinese culture and most importantly, share her culture with the people of Austin. Wang hopes that her work playing ruan will inspire people to find different types of music and share the joy of song with society. 

“I feel that ruan definitely connects me more to my culture, but most importantly, ruan allows me to share a piece of my culture and my legacy with everyone,” Wang said. “Many people have never heard of this kind of music and our band has encouraged people to discover different kinds of music outside of popular culture.” 

As for her legacy, the sophomore hopes that by sharing ruan with the world it will allow people to take up music and find belonging in their own musical journey. 

“My sister and I’s job is not only to share our expertise and love of music, but also to encourage others to  discover different kinds of music.”