DENVER—Musician Jason Moon sat so close to the orchestra pit that he could feel the energy and vibrations of the music of Shen Yun Performing Arts in Denver’s Saenger Theatre, Feb. 19.
He and Ms. Claire Secrett had so enjoyed seeing New York-based Shen Yun’s revival of traditional Chinese culture the year before that he decided he had to attend again this year, expecting to see the same repeat performance.
“I was amazed—we came once before, a year ago and loved it. I didn’t realize the whole thing was going to be different,” Mr. Moon said. “I didn’t realize that at all, so that was a wonderful surprise and it was just spectacular. What an effort by everyone involved!”
“It was amazing,” Mr. Moon said. “The energy of the music, the vibrations of the music; we were close to the orchestra so I could feel the vibrations from the music and it was very moving; it’s wonderful.”
The East-West blend of music in Shen Yun was a unique experience for Mr. Moon.
“In Eastern music I think there are half-tones that don’t exist in Western music,” Mr. Moon said. “This is from a musical standpoint—and to hear Western scale progressions with Eastern scale progressions was extremely interesting to me and it was wonderful.”
The vocal soloists sing original Chinese compositions in the bel canto style—a difficult feat—and the orchestra blends traditional Chinese instruments like the pipa into a full Western symphony.
“When the first soprano sang, I started crying,” Ms. Secrett said. “It was so beautiful. I was so moved by it.”
The translated lyrics were projected onto the digital backdrop, but even without that “the feeling of it; it was just so deep, and I loved it,” Ms. Secrett said.
“There was just a passion in her singing and it was just a completely emotional connection that I made with the music that just went beyond words,” Ms. Secrett said.
The performance was one the friends planned to attend yet again next year, Ms. Secrett said.
“There’s so much energy and it’s so joyful,” Ms. Secrett said.
“Thank you to all the people that make this possible because I think the beauty of Chinese culture is definitely something that should be preserved and shared across the world,” Ms. Secrett said.
Reporting by Jennifer Zeng and Catherine Yang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
