It was 4:30 in the morning at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I had packed my bags in the dark, cleared TSA security at Terminal 7, and was heading toward my gate for a flight to Chicago. The terminal was quiet, filled with tired travelers nursing black coffee. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something unexpected: an upright piano, standing silently against a concrete pillar, as if waiting for a friend.
I walked over, lifted the polished lid, sat down on the bench, and let my fingers fall onto the keys. The first chord rang out clear and warm through the sterile airport terminal. After a few measures of a gentle, familiar melody, a tired traveler who had been rushing to his flight stopped in his tracks. He turned, smiled, listened until the last note dissipated, and whispered: "Thank you for bringing music to the world."
A year later, while playing late at night in another hotel lobby in Los Angeles, a gentleman with a bright smile walked up to listen. When I finished, he began to sing with an astonishing range and warmth. It turned out to be Jimmy Rooney—the legendary former Disney voice actor behind Mickey Mouse. We talked for hours about pitch, harmonics, performance, and life.
Back home, visitors often ask why we built an acoustics-treated concert stage and grand piano right inside our lighting manufacturing headquarters in Shenzhen. My response is always: Engineers who understand musical resonance will never design lifeless, harsh luminaires. When you train your ears to hear polyphony, you train your eyes to see subtle gradations of light.
Dawn at LAX Terminal 7
Quiet piano notes breaking the early morning silence at Los Angeles airport.
Unexpected Friendship with Disney Voice Legend Jimmy Rooney
A midnight musical connection bridging Hollywood voice artistry and Shenzhen hardware craftsmanship.
The Concert Stage Inside Encore Tech HQ
Bringing classical music and grand piano directly onto the factory and executive floor.
