BURLINGTON, Vt.—“I came all the way from Arkansas to this wonderful, wonderful concert,” said Dorothy Norris.
Ms. Norris was an elementary school teacher whose father helped inspire in her a love of classical music. A high tenor in Chile, he performed in works such as Madame Butterfly. She spoke with great enthusiasm about Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra.
“I love it. It’s marvelous. The rhythms are exquisite, the syncopation, everything,” she said after Shen Yun’s concert at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 4. The concert presented original orchestral works and bel canto songs, and pieces by Tchaikovsky and Pablo de Sarasate.
Ms. Norris said that the opera singers were absolutely wonderful. Referring to the soprano, she commented, “I don’t know how she can do that—those high notes. I’ve never heard that type of music before, that type of singing—bel canto? But, a very high bel canto!”
Overall, Ms. Norris felt the concert was very uplifting and would describe it to her friends as “just different and beautiful.”
The company’s website describes the difference in the orchestra this way: “Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra blends the spirit of Chinese music with the power of a Western orchestra. All-original compositions draw upon five millennia of culture and legends. Western strings, percussion, woodwinds, and brass accentuate the sound of ancient Chinese instruments—like the two-stringed erhu and the plucked pipa. Never before have the exquisite beauty of Chinese melodies and the grandeur of a Western symphony been so seamlessly combined.”
Also in attendance at this matinee concert were David Lagala, formally employed in different capacities for the state of Vermont and wife, Louise Mueller also now retired but keeps busy doing layout and design for various printing companies and ad agencies.
Ms. Mueller had tears in her eyes during the concert. “The music really touches something inside, and music is so universal I think that’s what strikes me,” she said. “It speaks to all of us and it brings us all together.”
Mr. Lagala was most touched by the enormous talent the musicians demonstrated through their manual dexterity. “It’s really marvelous to watch,” he said.
Ms. Mueller said, “It’s marvelous, it’s inspiring, it’s literally given me goosebumps, just tremendous, yes, it’s wonderful.”
Her overall impression of the concert was that “It was inspiring. it was uplifting, it was—I’m lost for words, but you felt really good. There’s something that sort of rises emotionally in you, as you listen to it, sometimes it’s hard to put emotions into words.”
“I was emotional, a little teary sometimes, because it touches your heart,” she said.
Reporting by NTD Television and Andrew Darin
New York-based Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra comprises musicians from the four Shen Yun Performing Arts touring companies. Shen Yun Performing Arts begins its 2016 world tour on Dec. 22, 2015.
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the company’s inception in 2006.
