SAVANNAH, Ga.—Samuel Diederich is a freelance trumpeter and in Shen Yun Performing Arts, he heard the ensemble’s sound and music working perfectly with the dancers on stage.
“It was spot on. It was perfect for what you would expect to hear in this kind of show. It gave you a good glimpse into the emotion that the dancers were portraying,” Mr. Diederich said.
Shen Yun’s live orchestra is a unique combination of traditional Chinese instruments with a classic western ensemble.
“You were also able to hear every little nuance that was composed. You could hear all of it. If you know what to listen for, you can hear every instrument’s part individually. So it was really cool to hear all that. It really did aid the entire performance overall,” Mr. Diederich added.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and although Mr. Diederich is not Chinese, he still enjoyed hearing all of the Chinese melodies that Shen Yun offered.
“I loved it. I know my heritage does not lie in the Eastern cultures, but I’ve always enjoyed those sounds a lot. And when you blend those two things, it just creates something very unique. It’s a very special type of voice that you get to hear,” Mr. Diederich said.
One instrument that enjoyed its moment under the spotlight is the erhu, an ancient two-stringed instrument.
“That was amazing. I wasn’t expecting as much agility and precision with the pitches that she was able to pull out of those two strings without any sort of frets. She was able to make the instrument sing technically and lyrically at the same time and sometimes separately. So that was a beautiful thing to me,” Mr. Diederich said.
The erhu is known for its ability to mimic a haunting human voice and many other sounds from nature. Mr. Diederich could hear all of the emotions that the soloist was evoking.
“It was moving. You could feel all of the emotions that she was pushing through, whether it was joyfulness, a little bit of tension a little bit of ambition, all at the same time. She was easily giving that to everyone in the crowd. Wonderful,” Mr. Diederich said.
Shen Yun’s singers are trained in bel canto technique and the digital backdrop provides a translation of the Chinese text being sung.
Mr. Diederich said Shen Yun’s soprano was “marvelous.”
“A very, very strong voice. Her voice was huge. The voice was beautiful. I think her lyrics are kind of deep as well,” he said.
While reading the text and listening to the soprano, Mr. Diederich found similarities between his beliefs and the sung text.
“We all go to church here. We just came from a Bible study last night that was talking about similar things. They almost put in exactly what was in the lyrics of her piece. So it was rather mind-blowing,” he shared.
Reporting by Sherry Dong and Maria Han.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
