Shen Yun Continues to Delight DC Arts Community: "There Is Nothing Like It!"

(Clearwisdom.net) Delighting a packed house, internationally acclaimed Shen Yun Performing Arts received cheers and waves from audience members at the Kennedy Center Opera House on Thursday August 27, 2009.

Mr. Spruill, a classical pianist, who has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in piano performance from the University of Maryland, came to see the show with friends. He said that he enjoyed it immensely.

"It was phenomenal! And the tenor was just incredible, I just loved the texture of his voice, the tonality, it was just great. It was just amazing."

He continues enthusiastically, "Even though I play a lot of genre music, to just hear the music from tonight ... it was just incredible. To actually come and experience the music live and to see the performance, there is nothing like it."

The Shen Yun Performing Arts Orchestra brings together two of the world's greatest classical music traditions, Chinese and Western, in a masterful fusion. With Western instruments as its base, the orchestra brings out Chinese musical flair through a variety of Chinese instruments.

Mr. Spruill said the music was wonderful. "I thought that when I was listening to it, especially when it was confirmed that it was not just Western but Chinese instruments being used at the same time, I thought it was amazing.

"I loved hearing the different tones or modes that were being played, especially the xylophone that was on the side--incredible! I was watching the director and listening to the gong, the Timpani and the trumpets. I loved the fact that it was blended. Not one style stood out more than another, but it was actually balanced, and that's really hard to do even within one's own culture, to have a perfect blend. But I really must commend the composers and the conductor because she really held it together."

And it wasn't just the music that Mr. Spruill appreciated. He also loved the colors of the performance, saying they were "incredible."

"I thought it was a perfect blend between the music and seeing the different costumes, the different movements and the different colors ... I just thought it was amazing. And I loved the peacefulness that you felt with everything that was happening on stage."

Music Professor: "Wonderful and Moving"

Dr. Wright, a music professor who teaches non-Western music at a nearby college, highly praised Shen Yun Performing Arts.

The professor is also active in the National Symphony Education Outreach Program and uses recordings of the traditional Chinese instruments, the erhu, pipa, and dizi in his Music Appreciation Class. So he is very familiar with Chinese music.

After hearing the New York-based Shen Yun performing arts, Dr. Wright said, "I thought that it was a wonderful performance. I really thought it was moving."

Despite his experience with introducing Chinese music to his students, Dr. Wright indicated that seeing a performance of this caliber has been hard to come by.

"It was just wonderful to hear the balance of the Western instruments with the traditional Eastern, particularly the Chinese traditional instruments," he said.

"Human expression is the key within the medium that is being presented. And then we have a stylistic and multi-approach in terms of the instrumentation, in terms of the choreography, and the use of the voice. So that was highly effective."

Adding to his enjoyment were the translations of the Chinese texts that were projected for the audience to read along with the vocal performances. "I do not speak Mandarin, but I think having the text of what the singers were singing was particularly effective."

Dr. Wright appreciated the dances as well. "The choreography was outstanding," he remarked.

Commenting on the legends depicted through the story-based dance, Dr. Wright said, "I would say the overall arch of the stories, I just really, really enjoyed the overall performance."

Dr. Wright indicated that more people would enjoy seeing Shen Yun. "I would recommend it to others," he said.