AUSTIN, Texas—Composer and conductor Randol Bass had an eye-opening experience at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Dec. 27.

“The energy—the high energy of the dancing and also the playing of the musicians was wonderful,” Mr. Bass said.

Mr. Bass, who has worked with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and the Dallas Symphony, noted the unique instrumentation he heard in Shen Yun Orchestra.

New York-based Shen Yun combines East and West in a way no other orchestra has achieved before, with traditional Chinese instruments within a full Western symphony.

“Oh, I loved the traditional instruments. The pipa and the double reed instrument [the suona]—that was wonderful,” Mr. Bass said. “Wonderful music.”

Having much experience playing music to live dance, Mr. Bass was intrigued by the classical Chinese dance he saw onstage. The movements he saw were not the ones he was familiar with, Mr. Bass said, as they are unique to classical Chinese dance.

As the emcees had explained, classical Chinese dance is a vast and independent form with systematic training for specific movements and postures.

“The dancers were marvelous,” Mr. Bass said. “It was spectacular, and the colors were so striking.”

The depth and long history of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture and Shen Yun’s mission to revive it was a marvel to Mr. Bass.

“It was joyous,” he said. “I think it’s wonderful. It should be kept alive.”

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.