Rehearsing on stage at an outdoor amphitheater is Grammy Award-winning musician Wu Wei.
He’s using the mouthpiece of the musical instrument he’s playing—one I’ve never seen before—which has multiple dark bamboo pipes and towers over his head.
It’s an ancient Chinese instrument called a sheng, and Wu Wei is a virtuoso.
"What I play is a historical instrument from China. They have more than 3,000 years of history," Wu Wei told KCLU. "The name is called sheng, and in English, it's called Chinese mouth organ. It's an old instrument. I think it's the oldest harmonic wind instrument."
Wu Wei said that the instrument is "in principle very simple" and has 37 pipes, each capable of producing just one note. But, he said, he can play 20 notes at one time.
It’s Wu Wei’s first time at the Ojai Music Festival, and he says he’s delighted to be performing new music.
"The Ojai Festival is very well known in the world. It's amazing, like paradise for the musicians," he said.
But while the sheng is more than 3,000 years old, the music Wu Wei plays is fresh and new, explained Ara Guzelimian, Ojai Music Festival's Musical Director.
"Wu Wei is amazing," he said. "There's nobody like him on the planet because he both honors and deeply understands the thousands of years of tradition of the instrument. And at the same time, he's an explorer and the instrument is born also new every time he plays, especially in these collaborations."
"I love that combination of both very old and as new as today, which is also true to the Ojai Festival," said Guzelimian.

He said the festival is a chance for music lovers and newcomers to explore.
"Every concert is different combinations of musicians and that inspires lots of discovery and adventure in what's possible to be done," he said.
The Ojai Music Festival features performances at the Libbey Bowl and other locations. A number of free events are also scheduled over the next three days, and performances are streamed online for free.