HOUSTON—Gerri Barker, an attorney and a former concert violinist, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts with her husband Chad Barker, at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts on Dec. 29. The couple loved Shen Yun music and the orchestra.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Its mission is to revive the 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture which has been under the destruction of the Chinese Communist Party for over 70 years.
The Shen Yun
Orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine classical Western and Eastern instruments. Mrs. Barker was in awe of Shen Yun’s all-original compositions that blend traditional Eastern melodies with powerful Western orchestration. She said, “It’s phenomenal how [Shen Yun] brought it all together. I feel like I had a peek into the past but was brought to the present as well, something I can relate to.”
“The music also was very high-level,” Mrs. Barker continued, “it is extremely challenging. I was sitting there thinking the choreographers, the
musicians, whoever worked on this are brilliant!”
As a former concert violinist who played in orchestras in New Jersey, New York, and Washington D.C., Mrs. Barker was very impressed with the erhu soloist’s performance, “She was a virtuoso. That was spectacular! Her technique was impeccable. Her musicality was just ... I don’t even know what to say. It was very warm and extremely high-level. It was beautiful. Her tone was spectacular. Of course, she played in tune. So, it was beautiful!”
Shen Yun also features singers trained in the traditional
bel canto technique. They sing in Chinese and the lyrics are translated on the backdrop. Mrs. Barker appreciated the singing and the lyrics, “I love the bass singer. He’s also amazing, and the lyrics to that too.”
Mr. Barker is an EVP at a law firm and an amateur pianist. He said that the performance has “a feel-good atmosphere. Watching the show makes you feel good. You come in with a bad day, and you’re going to feel great when you leave.”
Shen Yun is
banned from performing in China today. Mrs. Barker was sad about this fact, “it’s sad that they can’t show this in China. To me, this is who the Chinese really are. I feel like a big dark cloud has taken over China, and that’s not the real Chinese, the real Chinese soul is not the communism.”
Reporting by Frank Liang and Sophia Fang.
