CALGARY, Canada—Orchestral musician and organ professor Neil Cockburn got a pleasant surprise upon seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on Sunday night.
“I wasn’t expecting a live orchestra. I was delighted that there was a live orchestra, which I thought was tremendous,” said Mr. Cockburn, who teaches organ at the Mount Royal Conservatory in Calgary.
He said the Shen Yun Orchestra’s unique combination of classical Chinese and Western instruments “worked beautifully.”
“I particularly enjoyed the blend of what I might call Western instruments with traditional Chinese instruments. And I thought the whole blend of the music with dance and singing also was just incredibly well done, it was beautiful.”
Head of organ studies at Mount Royal University Organ Academy and Cantos Music Foundation organ scholar at the University of Calgary, Mr. Cockburn is a soloist, recitalist, accompanist, and orchestral musician who has been recorded for broadcast on both organ and harpsichord.
He has performed in several countries, including Ireland and South Africa, and his concerto repertoire spans works from Handel through to Victor Davies’ Jazz Concerto for Organ & Orchestra (2000).
Knowing a thing or two about music, Mr Cockburn noted how the “musical language” perfectly matched the show’s dance routines, scenery, and costumes.
“The musical language was using a pentatonic scale, so I perceived the musical language as being a Chinese kind of musical language, which was great. And I thought the orchestra played superbly. It was a wonderful blend of sonorities and absolutely went with the dance routines. It was really very tight.”
“I wasn’t expecting a live orchestra. I was delighted that there was a live orchestra, which I thought was tremendous,” said Mr. Cockburn, who teaches organ at the Mount Royal Conservatory in Calgary.
He said the Shen Yun Orchestra’s unique combination of classical Chinese and Western instruments “worked beautifully.”
“I particularly enjoyed the blend of what I might call Western instruments with traditional Chinese instruments. And I thought the whole blend of the music with dance and singing also was just incredibly well done, it was beautiful.”
Head of organ studies at Mount Royal University Organ Academy and Cantos Music Foundation organ scholar at the University of Calgary, Mr. Cockburn is a soloist, recitalist, accompanist, and orchestral musician who has been recorded for broadcast on both organ and harpsichord.
He has performed in several countries, including Ireland and South Africa, and his concerto repertoire spans works from Handel through to Victor Davies’ Jazz Concerto for Organ & Orchestra (2000).
Knowing a thing or two about music, Mr Cockburn noted how the “musical language” perfectly matched the show’s dance routines, scenery, and costumes.
“The musical language was using a pentatonic scale, so I perceived the musical language as being a Chinese kind of musical language, which was great. And I thought the orchestra played superbly. It was a wonderful blend of sonorities and absolutely went with the dance routines. It was really very tight.”
It was his first time seeing Shen Yun, which is based in New York and began with a passionate group of artists in the Chinese diaspora who shared a vision of reviving the true spirit of China’s traditional culture through music and dance.
“I enjoyed it very much. It’s such a wonderful celebration. There’s so many different varieties in it and I liked each of the acts, each of the performances. It was amazing how the routines and the colours and the costumes and the background and the scenery and everything all came together. It was really glorious,” he said.
He also praised the soloists, soprano Pi-Ju Huang and tenor Yuan Qu.
“I was very pleased that there were two singers included as well as the dancers—I thought that was lovely to hear. … They had glorious voices. It was really, really terrific. I really very much enjoyed that.”
Drawing from China’s long and rich history, Shen Yun uses story-based dances to depict legends and tales from both past and contemporary times.
“I loved the dance,” said Mr. Cockburn. “I loved that each of the numbers told a story, so there was a narrative, and I loved that there was a different costume set with each dance that was so colourful.”
“I enjoyed it very much. It’s such a wonderful celebration. There’s so many different varieties in it and I liked each of the acts, each of the performances. It was amazing how the routines and the colours and the costumes and the background and the scenery and everything all came together. It was really glorious,” he said.
He also praised the soloists, soprano Pi-Ju Huang and tenor Yuan Qu.
“I was very pleased that there were two singers included as well as the dancers—I thought that was lovely to hear. … They had glorious voices. It was really, really terrific. I really very much enjoyed that.”
Drawing from China’s long and rich history, Shen Yun uses story-based dances to depict legends and tales from both past and contemporary times.
“I loved the dance,” said Mr. Cockburn. “I loved that each of the numbers told a story, so there was a narrative, and I loved that there was a different costume set with each dance that was so colourful.”
Shen Yun’s innovative animated backdrops also made an impression.
“I was particularly impressed by the projection backdrop, so that at times it would appear that the dancer had gone into the screen and they would drift up to heaven or some angels would come down from the sky and they would be on the stage. It was really beautiful, very impressive.”
Mr. Cockburn said he perceived a message of hope in the show—“spiritual hope, and that also was apparent in the other dance routines and so on. So there was a great spirituality, a connection between Earth and Heaven throughout the whole performance, I thought.
“At the beginning of each act, for example, when the curtain opened we felt like we were in Heaven—there was the smoke and so on. I loved that. I thought it was a really terrific effect. And I also loved it when the scenery would change and the angels would come down from Heaven and so on. I thought that was lovely.”
In concluding, Mr. Cockburn came up with plenty of superlatives to describe the show: “Celebratory, colourful, astonishing, astounding, breathtaking, acrobatic, physical, emotional, spiritual—all of this. .. It really has everything in it—a very enjoyable evening.”
Reporting by Maple Lynn, NTD Television, and Joan Delaney
Shen Yun will play two more shows in Calgary and then continue on to Vancouver for the last of its Canadian shows this season. Shen Yun’s two other equally large companies are currently touring in Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
“I was particularly impressed by the projection backdrop, so that at times it would appear that the dancer had gone into the screen and they would drift up to heaven or some angels would come down from the sky and they would be on the stage. It was really beautiful, very impressive.”
Mr. Cockburn said he perceived a message of hope in the show—“spiritual hope, and that also was apparent in the other dance routines and so on. So there was a great spirituality, a connection between Earth and Heaven throughout the whole performance, I thought.
“At the beginning of each act, for example, when the curtain opened we felt like we were in Heaven—there was the smoke and so on. I loved that. I thought it was a really terrific effect. And I also loved it when the scenery would change and the angels would come down from Heaven and so on. I thought that was lovely.”
In concluding, Mr. Cockburn came up with plenty of superlatives to describe the show: “Celebratory, colourful, astonishing, astounding, breathtaking, acrobatic, physical, emotional, spiritual—all of this. .. It really has everything in it—a very enjoyable evening.”
Reporting by Maple Lynn, NTD Television, and Joan Delaney
Shen Yun will play two more shows in Calgary and then continue on to Vancouver for the last of its Canadian shows this season. Shen Yun’s two other equally large companies are currently touring in Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
