Choirmaster: ‘The singers are excellent’

Mr. Brandstetter, a choirmaster, talking to media after the final Canberra Shen Yun Performing Arts show on Tuesday, March 31. (Courtesy of New Tang Dynasty Television)

CANBERRA, Australia— Mr. Bandstetter, a choirmaster attended the final performance of the New York-based production’s Touring Company in Australia’s popular Canberra Theatre on March 31.

“The singers are excellent,” Mr. Bandstetter said. The Shen Yun vocalists were “unbelievable.”

As a choirmaster, Mr. Bandstetter said he had worked with the Austrian Australian Choir and the local Canberra Men’s Choir, so singing has played a special part in his life.

Mr. Bandstetter enjoyed everything about the show, especially the orchestral music of Western and Chinese composition.

“I think firstly, the dancing is beautiful, the costumes are beautiful, the choreography is absolutely out of this world, and I very much appreciate the music.

“It’s a nice mixture of Chinese culture and modern instrumental music, so I’m very impressed. The whole show, I think, is a wonderful lesson in history, really. It’s a dancing history lesson. So it was beautiful.”

Mr. Bandstetter said the performance far exceeded his expectations.

“It was actually much more in-depth. It had a deeper meaning, a nice message in it. Actually, the way it was, was very well done.

“You also got some of the stories that people know, not necessarily historic, but that were told over many, many years.”

Story-based dance is one of the trademarks and integral to Shen Yun performances.

“I think it [the music] did very well in the way it was composed. It was very beautiful, I very much appreciated it. It was beautiful.

“I loved the music in any case, because it gives a Chinese character but in a modern context. By using modern instruments, it still hasn’t lost its Chinese identity. Whoever composed it, did it really well, so those people are very good.

In picking out his favorite piece, Mr. Bandstetter said, “I like the chopstick piece a lot [Mongolian Chopsticks] ... It was very nice. But in general, I like the way you’re telling stories ... portraying the history of your people and your country.”

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org