HAMILTON, Canada—Music is a miracle of sounds and timbres mixing together harmoniously. In ancient China, it was said that when someone is sick, music should be used before medicine to cure the ailment.

After over three years of the pandemic, many people are finally coming out again to experience live entertainment.

“It’s so nice to have live music again and hear it in halls, and such lush sounds and a blend of East and West sounds. It was really spectacular,” said Ms. Lee.

“I thought it worked really nicely. It blended well. It was well-balanced. And it still gave plenty of opportunity for older instruments to shine. So, it was really well written, and very well performed,” said Ms. Lee.

“The musicians were wonderful. I’ve really appreciated the blend of the East and West instruments and how they blend together to make a beautiful sound. So it was a very unique, very unique experience,” added Mr. Scholtes.

“The compositions sound like they’re historically informed, and they really evoke that history. The arrangements make all the orchestral instruments shine,” said Ms. Lee.

“The percussion, all the different percussion instruments that really helped drive the tension of the story,” added Mr. Scholtes.

“I think that was my favourite. That was the most beautiful program. It’s sentimental. It’s beautiful. It’s romantic. It’s sad. It’s like you have all the emotions in that one instrument. It’s really amazing,” commented Mr. Scholtes.

“My goodness, it’s like a blend of a violin and a human voice. That’s how I heard it. It was really beautiful,” said Ms. Lee.

The erhu only has two strings, but its expressive ability is not hindered. Without a fingerboard as seen on a violin or frets as seen on a guitar, intonation is quite a challenge.

“I love the sound of the erhu, which is so unique and so beautiful. And so, to hear it accompanied by the whole orchestra, it’s quite an experience to hear it live for sure,” said Mr. Scholtes.

“It was beautiful. Really lovely sound, lovely tone, and beautiful phrasing. It felt very soulful. Very heartfelt,” said Ms. Lee.

“My goodness, the singers are great. They really sang directly from their hearts. When someone sings so much from their heart, you can hear it—it comes right to your heart. So that was really beautiful,” said Ms. Lee.

“It was very helpful to read what they were singing about,” said Mr. Scholtes.

Shen Yun’s dancers are trained in classical Chinese dance. To master this dance form, artists are required to not only learn the fundamentals of the dance but also the culture behind it.

“I think that was a common theme—the divine dancing. It was very obvious. It was a reoccurring theme every time we were supposed to experience the divine, there it was. And it was very well illustrated through dance,” said Ms. Lee.

“It was those scenes. They were so powerful, especially the dramatic scenes—they were extremely powerful. They grabbed you right from beginning to end—a lot of relevance for today,” said Ms. Lee.

“The divine and the human are so blended. That I felt was very powerful, very beautiful,” she added.

For anyone who is curious about whether to experience Shen Yun, Ms. Lee’s thoughts are: “I would say it is a show definitely worth seeing, at least once. Everyone is curious. Everyone has seen little snippets online, and everyone is curious to see it from beginning to end. And I think it’s a great show.”