TORONTO—Kaija Corlazzoli, executive director of the Toronto Concert Orchestra and the Amici Chamber Ensemble, called the music of Shen Yun Performing Arts “divine.”

“The orchestra sounds so special, and it accentuates the experience so much. The dancing is extraordinary, but the music is bringing so much to the experience as well, and such unique sounds [are] really transporting us,” she said after seeing Shen Yun at the Fours Seasons Centre in Toronto on April 3.

“It is divine,” Ms. Corlazzoli said.

“I’m hearing many special instruments coming through, and so many beautiful notes punctuated perfectly by the dancers,” Ms. Corlazzoli said. “We’re taking a journey here ... from Toronto to the Orient, altogether swept up.”

“I feel very hopeful, especially in these times, to come to experience something so beautiful. It really touches you, between the music and the [erhu] solo. When she was playing on the stage, I was taken to a very beautiful place, especially in this time after two years of not having so many experiences,” she said.

“We need this beauty and we need these experiences that touch our heart, [and] that remind us we are human.”

“They talk about divinity a lot. I felt that we were coming close to touch something very special,” she said.

“The dancers are so graceful, so beautiful. ... You see the dancers and there was a tremendous strength,” she said.

Mr. Mostyn said he saw a theme of resisting oppression in the performance, something that he could relate to.

“That is something that in Canada, in the West, we have a proud tradition [of], in standing for freedom,” he said.

“Going back to a higher purpose, a higher being, a spirituality—that is evident throughout the show. I think that would strike a chord, certainly, with members of the Jewish community viewing the show today.”

“We should always be proud of it,” he said.

“There’s sometimes too much focus on materialism in the world today. As parents, and now as an older generation, I always wonder about the youth and the values that our youth will have. And I think it’s always important to remind ourselves of our strong traditions, because that’s what makes us as individuals—it’s our parents and our grandparents and our great grandparents and the culture that we come from.”

He noted the importance of passing on these cherished traditions and their underlying universal principles to the next generations.

“We should be telling those stories and teaching our children and letting everybody know that beyond just us as humans there are greater principles, greater causes,” Mr. Mostyn said.

“And certainly within the Jewish community and with the Chinese community, we believe in a greater power and I think that it’s something that’s unifying and spiritual. I think it’s something that gives a message of hope to everyone.”

“I would certainly encourage everybody around the world to view Shen Yun. I think it’s an incredible experience, and you’re really missing something if you don’t see this performance.”