COSTA MESA, Calif.— “Fantastic, creative, beautifully timed, beautifully set,” said conductor Harold Worman about Shen Yun Performing Arts. “It’s really impressive … the whole thing was just super, loved it!”

Mr. Worman has conducted ensembles at San Diego State University for 32 years, including the Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, and marching band.

“I’ve conducted here and I’ve conducted on stage and in the pit and I’m telling you … it was really, really well done,” he said.

“The coordination between the music and the dance was “really tight,” said Mr. Worman, “[the orchestra] traveled with [the dancers] all the time … it seemed like they were that tight.”

Mr. Worman said he was very excited to see the trumpets in the orchestra.

“I always play trumpet … and I didn’t even think there was going to be any, so it was really exciting when I got to hear them,” he said. “It was really good.”

The company’s website says its performance this year demonstrates “China before communism.”

Reflecting on the dance stories that depict modern day China and the communist regime’s persecution of the spiritual discipline Falun Dafa, Mr. Worman found them very moving.

“They were really very poignant, right to the point, and very moving,” he said.

“The way the Communist Party treats the people [in comparison to] the spirit, the positiveness, [and] the beauty of the human spirit … all came through,” he said. “It was wonderful.”

“It’s very prophetic,” he said. “We have certain elements in this country that are going that direction, and we certainly hope that the spirit wins before [evil] get[s] there.”