The story of instrumentalist Wang Xiaowei and amateur singer Wang Xiaohai is that of a chance encounter that, quite literally, gave birth to a miracle - their band, September Miracle.

The duo has been rather busy since appearing on the 2011 CCTV Spring Festival Gala show.

When Dongbei University accountant Wang Xiaohai heard Wang Xiaowei on the double keyboard electronic organ for her graduation solo at Shenyang Conservatory of Music in 2004, he was enthralled.

The beautiful sounds of the instrument as Wang played the elegant music of the Yellow River Piano Concerto, kept haunting him.

Although the 9 to 5 office worker and karaoke fan has never received any musical training, a bold idea began to take shape in his mind.

"I'd never seen this instrument," says the 31-year-old. "But after hearing it being played, I just couldn't get its sound out of my head."

He contacted the performer, who was equally impressed by Wang Xiaohai's singing. They also found other common interests, such as their love of revolution-themed songs of the 1950s and 60s, dubbed the "red classics".

Wang Xiaohai had little trouble convincing the 25-year-old performer from Dalian, who has been receiving piano training since the age of 7, and took second place at the 2006 UK Electronic Organ Competition, to get together as a band in 2008.

Thus, a very Western instrument, rarely seen by home audiences, got paired with the classics of an important era of Chinese history.

"It's a challenge," admits Wang Xiaohai, driven by the desire to familiarize Chinese with the double keyboard electronic organ.

Derived from the pipe organ, it requires a lot of skill to enable the maneuvering of its double keyboards and a foot pedal. Both hands and feet need to work together at the same time.

Besides, there is no music available for the modern instrument to accompany Chinese red classics. The two had to first compose the music and then add red classics lyrics.

Besides pop, Wang Xiaohai also uses operatic singing and rap to add color to their performances. To complement her partner, Wang Xiaowei also makes some visual improvisations.

"The performance is constantly evolving and is full of surprises," she says.

In September 2008, their performance won them the top spot on Star Boulevard, a popular CCTV competition, and much popular acclaim. Wang Xiaowei's performance was hailed as "dancing of the keys" and Wang Xiaohai's modern rendition of the revolutionary classics is a breath of fresh air.

The magic continued when they performed at the Vienna Golden Hall in 2009 and the Red Memory, their remix of classic red songs, led them to other touring opportunities in Europe and the United States.

But it is their 2011 Spring Festival Gala performance that marks, as yet, a career high point.

Talking of her association with the singer, Wang Xiaowei says, "He changed my original plans to be a teacher, which is the usual path taken by a music graduate in China."

The warmth between the two is palpable. They are planning to hold their first public concert in July and will release their debut album at the same time. They are also aware of the challenge of making original music rather than remixing old red songs all the time.

"It's all about pursuing the possibilities offered by the instrument," Wang Xiaohai says.