NEW YORK—Andre Brennan, a professional woodwinds musician, waited for months to finally see Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center on Jan. 17 with his wife. They were left in awe.
“The dances are excellent, the music is excellent, the level of musicianship is excellent, the maestro, one of the best,” he said.
The conductor, Cristian Cimei of Italy, received critical acclaim for his conducting Verdi’s La Traviata before he joined Shen Yun in 2014.
New York-based Shen Yun revives China’s rich 5,000-year-old culture, displaying ancient legends, ethnic dances, and classical Chinese dance, as well as scenes from contemporary life in China. The performances are accompanied by a traditional Western orchestra including Chinese instruments. For example, the performance featured the two-stringed erhu, a 4,000-year-old instrument known as the Chinese violin.
“The music is excellent, I like the way they combine the Western music with the Chinese music, it’s seamless, it doesn’t sound like it was thrown together for the sake of putting the two cultures together,” he noted.
On the Shen Yun website it reads: “The Western orchestra with its energy and grandeur, and the Chinese instruments with their distinct tones and styles, create a dramatic new sound.”
Mr. Brennan’s wife Mary Abatiello also thoroughly enjoyed the performance: “I love it! I love it! I loved to watch the dances, the colors, the history of China, I think it’s just amazing! I’m just in awe of it.”
Overall, Mr. Brennan thought the performance was perfect. “I don’t know if anything can be added to it to make it any better than it is. It would be like trying to put another piece into the finished puzzle.”
Reporting by Andrew Weiyong and Valentin Schmid
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
