The tea party introducing the world-class Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra, organized by Viet My Traditional Culture Company, took place on the afternoon of Saturday, August 11 at the Sheraton Saigon hotel.
The meeting brought together many music professionals and more than 200 guests from different fields, including representatives of the consulates of the United States, Australia, Indonesia, Finland, Slovakia and Chile, leaders of music academies, literature and arts associations, music and drama theaters, culture and arts magazines and business people.
(From left) Ms. Anne Freestone, Immigration Advisor at the Australian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Mitch Teberg, M&E specialist, UNDP; Mr. Dominic Lu, President of American Society for the Advancement of Anesthesia and Sedation in Dentistry
Mr. and Mrs. George Harris, Manager of HydroScience Asia; Miss Universe Vietnam H’Hen Nie and Mr. Mai Duy Long, Deputy General Director of IMC Group
In a musical and cultural setting that touched the emotions of many listeners, conductors and musicians came together to discuss the “Shen Yun” phenomenon and what has made the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra a worldwide success. Vietnam’s first female symphony conductor – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Meritorious Artist Minh Cam – said that in 45 years of work and observation she had never seen a symphony orchestra so young achieve such success as Shen Yun. This filled her with admiration and curiosity about what had helped Shen Yun achieve such a feat.
Assoc. Prof. People’s Teacher Hoang Cuong and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Meritorious Artist Minh Cam, guest speakers at the program
Of course, music is a common language for everyone, and nothing can bring all peoples together like music. And according to music critic and theorist Nguyen Thi Minh Chau, what is striking about Shen Yun’s music is “the connection and bond between people, between generations, peoples and nations, helping us overcome the distances of space and time and erasing differences in culture, religion and politics.”
Explaining the success of the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Minh Chau said that Shen Yun’s music “inherits the essence of two different cultures, drawing on hundreds of years of achievements in Western classical music and on thousands of years of Eastern aesthetics in music, culture and philosophy. It aims to give people a feeling of goodness and nobility. That is what brings people closer together and erases boundaries…”
In addition, Shen Yun’s music combines elements in many different ways: “a piece may be played entirely on Western instruments yet speak the language of the East, or Western instruments may accompany traditional Asian instruments, or two instruments, one Eastern and one Western, may hold a dialogue with each other. There is something very unique here that perhaps no other orchestra in the world has: a symphony orchestra with 3 erhus and 2 pipas placed between the winds and the strings”, Ms. Minh Chau said.
Assoc. Prof. People’s Teacher Hoang Cuong speaking at the program
Sharing this view, Assoc. Prof. People’s Teacher Hoang Cuong said the defining feature of Shen Yun’s music is the highly seamless combination of traditional Eastern instruments and a Western symphony orchestra. According to him, Shen Yun has “rightly followed the development trend of world music, which is harmony among peoples”. He said many composers in Vietnam have also been searching for ways to do this, but no one has succeeded like Shen Yun in combining Eastern and Western elements in music.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Meritorious Artist Minh Cam
Beyond its distinctive timbre, Assoc. Prof. Minh Cam also believes that one reason for Shen Yun’s success is that the orchestra has created a kind of music that reaches a wide audience. “For young people there are pieces with lively rhythms, for ordinary listeners there are simple pieces close to nature and pure, and for professionals and demanding listeners there are major works that require great technique”, she said.
What she wondered about was which factors, besides expertise, dedication and genuine artistry, contributed to Shen Yun’s success. In fact, Shen Yun is a non-profit performing arts company founded in 2006 in New York, whose orchestra originally accompanied the Shen Yun dancers. In 2012, the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra made its first independent debut at Carnegie Hall (USA), and in 2013 it began touring the world.
The orchestra selects its musicians very carefully: to perform on Shen Yun’s stage, one needs at least a master’s degree level of training. Today Shen Yun’s musicians include many talents from countries around the world. In addition, Shen Yun’s Fei Tian academies in Taiwan and the US select young talents to train and nurture, providing high-quality dancers, singers and musicians for the orchestra and the dance company.
Every year, Shen Yun gives about 500 performances around the world at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Daegu Concert House and more… In every country they are warmly welcomed; in some places tickets must be booked very early, and most performances sell out. This has allowed Shen Yun to sustain itself financially in a healthy way and grow very quickly from 1 company to 5, with a 6th touring company soon to be formed.
Conductor and Meritorious Artist Hoang Diep
Conductor and Meritorious Artist Hoang Diep shared her in-depth research on Shen Yun. She said: “With 5 conductors of different nationalities involved in staging the program and two composers who specialize in orchestrating and composing music especially for Shen Yun, that is the first fundamental advantage (of the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra). They are the ones who bring the musicians together with patience, sincerity and love for their craft, helping the whole orchestra soar.”
So it can be seen that another important factor in Shen Yun’s success is its organization and management, built on the foundation of training at the input and touring at the output. This is also where many orchestras around the world get stuck, and Shen Yun has found a very successful solution. Speaking about the atmosphere of Shen Yun’s music, conductor Hoang Diep shared her own feelings, which she believes many guests at the event shared too: “Some of us may have arrived here feeling unwell, others may have been upset about something, but surely after listening to the music, everyone feels a different kind of ease.”
Music critic and theorist Minh Chau affirmed: “We cannot just hear about Shen Yun; we have to hear it live and feel this music that goes from heart to heart”. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Meritorious Artist Minh Cam said that in recent years many world orchestras have come to perform in Vietnam, but never one so special, combining East and West so masterfully. She hopes that somehow Shen Yun can be brought to perform in Vietnam next year.
Dr. Meritorious Artist Hai Phuong
As a performer of traditional Vietnamese instruments who has toured with international orchestras, Dr. Meritorious Artist Hai Phuong also hopes to have the chance to meet the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra. She shared: “Working with a symphony orchestra benefits an artist professionally – the artist learns new things…; and for managers, looking at a company like Shen Yun and its successes will give them ideas and motivation to build companies like that.”
Ms. Minh Chau said: “Our music could work together with Shen Yun if we build a connection, not only passing on experience and inspiration but also exchanging works to promote Vietnamese music to the world, and we could also learn from Shen Yun so that later we can continue to build orchestras with new lineups like this.” She continued:
“This is a very young company, and its artists are very young. Contact with them would help the public appreciate real values and not turn their backs on traditional values that seem to have long been forgotten, namely European classical music and traditional Vietnamese music. Shen Yun’s appeal contributes greatly to building a healthy music environment that inspires goodness. The environment nurtures people’s character, and in a pure and wholesome musical space, people cannot commit crimes.”
Along with the open and enthusiastic sharing of the experts, the guests at the event also shared their impressions as follows:
Viet My Traditional Culture Company
(Please only republish this information with the consent of Viet My Traditional Culture Company)
