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December 30, 2018
Shen Yun Orchestra Impresses San Antonio Audiences
Celeste Li
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The unique orchestra of Shen Yun Performing Arts caught the attention of John McAnelly who watched the performance at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio, on Dec. 28. Mr. McAnelly is a Hondo—a city within the Greater San Antonio area—was once a coach for a choir and a band for school groups. He also used to sing and gave opera performances in college.
John McAnelly
Council Member
Hondo
“I thoroughly enjoy the orchestra
watching and listening,
and the tuning and the erhu
I don't know how to say it.
It's just ... I thoroughly enjoy it.”
Mr. McAnelly bought the tickets for his wife as Christmas gift, and Ms. McAnelly was so touched by the Shen Yun performance that she can’t wait to see it again next year.
Evelyn McAnelly
Retired Teacher
“This music touched my heart
and reminded me of those good times
and the beautiful music.
The dancing was flawless,
the costumes were beautiful
and yes I want to come back.“
The dances of Shen Yun Performing Arts are accompanied by a live orchestra that blends the classical music traditions of the East and the West. It features ancient Chinese instruments, such as the two-stringed bowed erhu, with a full Western orchestra.
John McAnelly
Council Member
Hondo
“The erhu has always to me
sounded like a wind instrument
like it breaths
and it's being reminded its not.
Her technique on the last note
where she was drawing
and then pushing and there was
no change in the sounds.
[It] was amazing. I thoroughly enjoy it.”
The precision and the cooperation of the orchestra was an eye-opener for Mr. McAnelly.
John McAnelly
Council Member
Hondo
“Well, it was interesting to me
from the Westerner’s standpoint
I had never really analyzed
how much was doubled.
And because the trombone
and the cello and the basson are doubled,
so they must be perfectly in tune,
I just never thought about it before.“
“What I appreciate was the fluidity,
the sheer excellence of the players
and the way that the winds melted
with the other instruments.
It's just the whole thing.
Because you get this...
[It] seems like a unison sound
but it's actually four or five
different instruments on the same pitch.”
He also admired the skills of Shen Yun’s musicians.
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John McAnelly
Council Member
Hondo
“The winds [instruments]
never seems to breath.
And the music is written that way.
There are pauses,
but the music is written [in a way]
that it just flows from one to the next.“
Beside the music, the songs and the story of Shen Yun gave McAnelly a different way of thinking about life.
“I was not as familiar as I'm now
with the ideas of the creator
and was just reminded that it is
an universal thing —
of we came from somewhere.
And the words of the soprano song,
I need to study that.”
NTD News, San Antonio, Texas
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