HOUSTON—Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra took professor Doris Higgenbottom’s breath away at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts Sunday afternoon.
“It was magnificent, magnificent. It just brought up so many emotions within me,” Mrs. Higgenbottom said.
Mrs. Higgenbottom attended the performance with her husband and daughter, Ms. Tamar Bloom, an entrepreneur.
“Unbelievable. It was phenomenal,” Ms. Bloom said.
Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is the first of its kind, blending traditional Chinese instruments and sounds into a full Western symphony.
Ms. Bloom, who used to play the violin, was pleased by the selection of pieces performed by Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra.
The program opened with the national anthem and included classical pieces like the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” and original compositions like “The Emperor Journeys to the Moon” by composer Gao Yuan.
“I thought it was a beautiful combination. I loved the way they combined the American and the Chinese,” Ms. Bloom said, adding that the the mix of pieces was “really, really nice.”
“I really liked how some of them were mellow and some of them were very upbeat. I loved it, I did. I loved it, all of it,” she said. “I really like the way they combined the orchestra and the opera,” adding that “Opera is another one of my favorites.”
Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is typically heard touring with the Shen Yun Performing Arts dance companies around the world.
“Solo vocal pieces are an integral part of a Shen Yun performance—whether it be a dance performance or today’s concert,” reads the symphony program.
Three solo vocalists sang original Chinese compositions in the bel canto style.
“It helped you to appreciate the Chinese culture and I loved that,” Mrs. Higgenbottom said of the performance. “I don’t know exactly where, but we have an Asian persuasion in my family. It just brought back so many wonderful things.”
Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is on a seven-city tour with performances in Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, from Sept. 27–Oct. 22. For more information, visit Symphony.Shenyun.com
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