HAMILTON, ON—Lyricist and composer Jim Garven was bowled over by the “awesome” Shen Yun Performing Arts show he attended at the Hamilton Place Theatre on Thursday afternoon.
“The music, the dance, the colour, the art, the martial art, all of it is beautiful, just beautiful,” he said after the show.
“And the opera singers, the soprano and the tenor, just beautiful—their voices and the way they compose themselves when they are singing. It was fantastic. I was never expecting it to be this great, this awesome.”
Mr. Garven’s sister Chrisy, also a composer and a pianist, was equally impressed.
“I loved it. I loved the colours, I loved the singing, the music—very uplifting,” she said, noting the high calibre of the dancers.
“Everything was in order. You can tell that they just knew what they were doing. You could feel the togetherness with the demonstration of dance and music, and everything just flowed very nicely. That’s what I liked about it.”
Shen Yun’s vocal soloists also scored high marks with Ms. Garven.
“Incredible. I’ve never heard such high pitch. Power—very very powerful. It shook! When it hits your soul, you know.”
Mr. Garven said he got inspiration from Shen Yun’s unique orchestra, which blends Western and Chinese instruments.
“I think [the instruments] blended together very well, and that was unusual because I have never heard that before, the East and the West together. I said to my sister, ‘Oh, it’s fantastic how they’ve put the two together, the balance between the orchestra.’”
“Just phenomenal,” Ms. Garven said of the orchestra. “Everything was in tune, everything flowed together. So I would say the music lined up with all of what was going on; the themes, all of that, it all lined up perfectly.”
They were both struck by the beauty of the erhu piece played by Qi Xiaochun. The erhu is a two-stringed instrument that originated in ancient China which neither sibling had heard before.
One of the reasons Mr. Garven came to see the show was his connection with Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline whose tenets are rooted in Chinese culture and whose adherents have been subjected to imprisonment and persecution since the Chinese regime banned the practice in 1999.
In the show, Shen Yun depicts legends of the Chinese culture’s creation over 5,000 years ago through to the story of Falun Gong in China today.
Mr. Garven co-wrote the lyrics and background of the song “Blood Like Water: The Plight of the Falun Gong,” which covers the issue of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners who are killed for their vital organs to supply China’s transplant trade.
“All cultures have one thing in common, music is international. ... All hearts and all people can understand that,” said Mr. Garven.
“It’s great that we can just sit here together and listen to this today, whereas in another place they would not be allowed to do that,” he added, referring to the fact that New York-based Shen Yun is not allowed to play in China.
“To come here and to see all this, the culture and everything together, just beautiful,” he said.
“This is the first time I ever saw the monks of this culture and I was so impressed. I would come again; I would bring my family. It’s a beautiful, beautiful culture,” said Ms. Garven.
“I am so glad I got to come,” said her brother. “I can’t wait to see it again.”
Reporting by Dong Yu Teng and Joan Delaney.
Shen Yun will next present its new show in Kitchener-Waterloo and then go on to Montreal and Toronto. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
“The music, the dance, the colour, the art, the martial art, all of it is beautiful, just beautiful,” he said after the show.
“And the opera singers, the soprano and the tenor, just beautiful—their voices and the way they compose themselves when they are singing. It was fantastic. I was never expecting it to be this great, this awesome.”
Mr. Garven’s sister Chrisy, also a composer and a pianist, was equally impressed.
“I loved it. I loved the colours, I loved the singing, the music—very uplifting,” she said, noting the high calibre of the dancers.
“Everything was in order. You can tell that they just knew what they were doing. You could feel the togetherness with the demonstration of dance and music, and everything just flowed very nicely. That’s what I liked about it.”
Shen Yun’s vocal soloists also scored high marks with Ms. Garven.
“Incredible. I’ve never heard such high pitch. Power—very very powerful. It shook! When it hits your soul, you know.”
Mr. Garven said he got inspiration from Shen Yun’s unique orchestra, which blends Western and Chinese instruments.
“I think [the instruments] blended together very well, and that was unusual because I have never heard that before, the East and the West together. I said to my sister, ‘Oh, it’s fantastic how they’ve put the two together, the balance between the orchestra.’”
“Just phenomenal,” Ms. Garven said of the orchestra. “Everything was in tune, everything flowed together. So I would say the music lined up with all of what was going on; the themes, all of that, it all lined up perfectly.”
They were both struck by the beauty of the erhu piece played by Qi Xiaochun. The erhu is a two-stringed instrument that originated in ancient China which neither sibling had heard before.
One of the reasons Mr. Garven came to see the show was his connection with Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline whose tenets are rooted in Chinese culture and whose adherents have been subjected to imprisonment and persecution since the Chinese regime banned the practice in 1999.
In the show, Shen Yun depicts legends of the Chinese culture’s creation over 5,000 years ago through to the story of Falun Gong in China today.
Mr. Garven co-wrote the lyrics and background of the song “Blood Like Water: The Plight of the Falun Gong,” which covers the issue of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners who are killed for their vital organs to supply China’s transplant trade.
“All cultures have one thing in common, music is international. ... All hearts and all people can understand that,” said Mr. Garven.
“It’s great that we can just sit here together and listen to this today, whereas in another place they would not be allowed to do that,” he added, referring to the fact that New York-based Shen Yun is not allowed to play in China.
“To come here and to see all this, the culture and everything together, just beautiful,” he said.
“This is the first time I ever saw the monks of this culture and I was so impressed. I would come again; I would bring my family. It’s a beautiful, beautiful culture,” said Ms. Garven.
“I am so glad I got to come,” said her brother. “I can’t wait to see it again.”
Reporting by Dong Yu Teng and Joan Delaney.
Shen Yun will next present its new show in Kitchener-Waterloo and then go on to Montreal and Toronto. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
