Shen Yun ‘Is Worth Anything It Takes to Go See,’ Says Former Musician

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.—William Heney used to be a band director, and his ear for music immediately led him to be enamored with Shen Yun Performing Arts’ music when he watched the performance at the Von Braun Center Concert Hall on Jan. 24.

“Oh, the orchestra is beautiful,” said Mr. Heney. “It’s wonderful. I love watching an orchestra when all the musicians are playing together in synchronization. It’s just absolutely gorgeous to watch.”

“This is one of the most fantastic performances of ability and artistic interpretation I have ever seen. I love it.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists who made it their mission to revive traditional Chinese culture through classical Chinese dance and music. Shen Yun quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company and grew from one to eight equally-sized companies that tour the world simultaneously. Each company has its own orchestra, which combines traditional Chinese and Western instruments.

Mr. Heney, however, was impressed by more than just the unique combination of instruments.

“It’s not only the blend of the instruments,” he said. “It’s the blend of the musicology itself. It’s stunning, actually. I was expecting something a little bit more conventional-Western, but this is beautiful. The melding between the music and the dance and the choreography and the costumes are absolutely gorgeous. It just makes an overall experience that is extremely satisfying. It’s all I can say. It’s really satisfying.”

Mr. Heney was able to pick up many aspects of the music, all of which he enjoyed. “There’s a lot of dynamic range in there. There’s a lot of thematic variations I enjoy. The music itself is very pleasing to listen to, which is very nice in this day and age of music that is hard to listen to, but this is lovely.”

Mr. Heney also described the performance as inspirational and uplifting.

“Go see it,” he said. “You’ve got to see it. Absolutely. This is worth anything it takes to go see it. It really is.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma and Wandi Zhu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.