SARASOTA, Fla.—“It impresses me as a musician,” said Bryan Hershberger after attending the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra’s performance at Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Oct. 27. “ It’s awesome!”
Impressed with the unique blend of Eastern and Western instruments he said, “The skill it takes to think up new sounds like that and create new sounds like that, … I can appreciate that.”
Through the grandeur and precision of the Western classical orchestra, blended with the distinct melodies of ancient Chinese instrumentation, Shen Yun Orchestra brings to life the highest musical capacities of both East and West—a feat no other performance arts company has come close to accomplishing.
Appreciating the ability of the musicians, Mr. Hershberger, who plays both cello and guitar, said, “The technique used is very hard to get down sometimes.”
Quite notably, Shen Yun Orchestra utilizes instruments with histories of thousands of years. Such instruments, as the plucked erhu, transmute sounds connoting the deepest reaches of spirituality and the ethereal.
“It is very creative in the way it (the erhu) was made, it took a lot of skill,” he said.
He was also struck by Shen Yun Orchestra’s ability to blend two distinct types of sound into something new yet precise. He also hoped to gain new inspiration for himself from the performance.
“I think there’s a lot of potential for the inclusiveness of different instruments, different styles of music,” he added. “As a musician, I’m constantly looking for creative ways to express myself in music.”
In trying to summarize the essence of Shen Yun, Mr. Hershberger felt that the opportunity to learn more about other cultures while examining one’s own was another important takeaway. “Seeking to understand different cultures, and come together and realize that through our differences we can come together,” he said. “We can seek to understand each other and understand each other’s ways of doing things better.”
Overall, of Shen Yun Orchestra he concluded: “It’s really good. I would recommend if anybody ever gets the chance to see this orchestra—I would heavily recommend it.”
Reporting by Sherry Dong
New York-based Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra comprises musicians from the four Shen Yun Performing Arts touring companies. Shen Yun begins its 2015 world tour on Dec. 26, 2014. For information, visitShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time.
