NEW YORK—Bill Kelly, owner of an executive recruitment business, said Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra was awesome.
“I enjoyed the whole performance,” Kelly said after the concert.
Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is part of Shen Yun Performing Arts, which was established as a nonprofit in 2006 in New York. Patrons of the classical Chinese performance expressed interest in hearing the music in a concert format, so the orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall last fall.
“It’s new to me, but I thought it was beautiful,” Mr. Kelly said. Having known some Chinese history, especially that of the Tang Dynasty, Kelly said the concert sparked his interest in learning more about the 5,000-year-old civilization.
“It’s kind of the beauty of Chinese culture,” he said.
Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is the first to blend the sounds of classical Western instruments, like percussion, bass, and stings, with those of ancient China, such as the two-stringed erhu and the pipa.
“The mix of Eastern and Western music, the way everybody carries themselves on stage, I thought it was awesome,” Kelly said.
Reporting by Alec Wang and Kristina Skorbach
Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is on a seven-city tour with performances in Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, from Sept. 27–Oct. 22. For more information, visit Symphony.Shenyun.com