SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun’s Orchestra Is Top Rate, ‘It Was Excellent,’ Says Musician

May 09, 2026

5/9/2026Updated: 5/9/2026

STAMFORD, Conn.—Musician Peter Kokias and his wife, Maggie, an accountant, first saw an advertisement for Shen Yun Performing Arts on television before deciding to purchase tickets for the company’s evening performance at the Palace Theatre on May 8. At the end of the show, they were delighted with their decision.

“It was beautiful,” Mr. Kokias said. “I like the costumes and the choreography. The orchestra, if I could sit on top of the orchestra and watch them all night, I'd be happy. The performance was top rate, it was excellent.”

Mrs. Kokias chimed in that it was amazing to follow the dancers’ movements and understand the stories that they convey.

“You understand the story by the way they move, which is really good,” she said. “Very expressive, it was lovely. The costumes were very cool and creative.”

As one of the world’s oldest civilizations, China’s 5,000-year history is rich with breathtaking legends and time-honored traditions. Yet within just a few decades of the Chinese communists’ rise to power, much of this magnificent culture was destroyed.

The spread of atheism rapidly undermined belief in the divine, and the cherished virtues drawn from Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism were swept away.

Today, New York–based Shen Yun is working to revive this lost civilization and to bring back, through dance and music, the beauty of China before communism.

As a musician, Mr. Kokias was especially impressed by the company’s original compositions, which feature classic Western orchestration as a foundation to highlight traditional Chinese melodies and instruments, such as the two-stringed erhu and the pipa, an ancient lute.

“I liked it. I thought it was interesting,” he shared. “Eastern and Western instruments combined. I’ve always heard [the erhu] in music, but I’ve never actually seen anyone perform on one, and that was outstanding. That was very good.”

The erhu is a 4,000-year-old Chinese instrument that mimics the human voice. Though it has only two strings, it can express a wide range of emotions, resonating with the profound depths of the human soul.

“It was amazing,” Mrs. Kokias added. “The Eastern and Western [combination] just gives it a whole new dimension. It changes the whole sound of [the music.] I thought it was very expressive.”

She could feel innately that the artists want the audience to be happy.

“They want us to be as happy as they seem to be while they’re performing,” she expressed. “They just seem so upbeat, and they made you feel like you were part of it. It’s hard to explain. It made me feel happy to watch it.”

Shen Yun “makes you wish for a more simple life, a less hectic and evolved life—something that’s not as crazy.”

Mr. Kokias felt the same way.

The show is “uplifting. It’s inspirational,” he said. “I never really thought much about Chinese culture, but now I think I have a greater respect for it—just after seeing a performance like this and all the work that goes into it from every angle—musically, performance, everything—it’s just amazing.”

Reporting by Sherry Dong and Jennifer Tseng.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.