“Honestly, the moment the first piece started today, my tears almost started to flow!” (Actress Minh Phuong, Youth Theatre), “Very moving!”, “Truly touching!”, “Wonderful! Beyond wonderful!” These were the feelings shared by many guests after the tea party introducing one of the world’s finest symphony orchestras – the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra.
As part of a series of events organized by Viet My Traditional Culture Company with the permission of the Shen Yun office in New York, the tea party on the evening of November 16 at the InterContinental Hanoi Landmark 72 hotel welcomed guests including representatives of the embassies of Australia, Sweden, Russia, Azerbaijan, Angola, Hungary and Indonesia, the Russian Center of Science and Culture and various associations; professors, associate professors, doctors, People’s Artists, Meritorious Artists, conductors, composers, musicians, singers, writers, poets, journalists, lawyers, painters, managers and business people from many fields such as music, the arts, history, science, education, culture, media and business in Vietnam.
Although they work in many different fields, Shen Yun’s music gave each guest at the program something that filled an empty space in their soul and stirred many powerful emotions.
Ms. Dao Thi Hue, a retired teacher (Hoang Liet Secondary School), exclaimed:
Or as Ms. Thuy Chi, a foreign language teacher and yoga instructor, shared:
Teacher and education researcher Nguyen Dac Dieu Lam, formerly of a teachers’ college and later of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences (Ministry of Education and Training), was also impressed:
Singer Nguyen Dinh Tuan Dung (Military Song and Dance Theatre) felt:
Commenting on Shen Yun’s music, poet and screenwriter Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat compared it:
And Ms. Pham Thi Thu Hang, who works at the Ministry of Labour, Invalids & Social Affairs, said:
A guest who had seen the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra live in Taiwan, Meritorious Artist Quoc Tuan, shared:
These are also the feelings shared by international audiences all over the world after enjoying Shen Yun’s music. Every year, the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra tours 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, and their music truly connects the hearts of millions of people regardless of skin color, religion or ethnicity. It is seen as a non-verbal art form; music is compared to a higher language that can express what ordinary language can hardly reach.
Shen Yun’s music connects heart to heart
Throughout human history, the mission of music has been to preserve divine sounds and melodies, which also hold profound wisdom that warms people’s hearts. The Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra creates melodies that awaken many emotions and bring a feeling of goodness and nobility from deep within the soul.
Perhaps that is why the emotions remained intact in the hearts of the guests at the tea party after they enjoyed Shen Yun’s music. M.A. Nguyen Mai Anh, a visiting lecturer at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, remarked:
And for Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, a pipa lecturer:
After listening to Shen Yun’s music, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, a Manulife insurance agent & Deputy Director of Elite Marketing Solutions, said:
Sharing his impressions of Shen Yun’s music, one of the great voices of Vietnamese music, People’s Artist Quang Tho (former Head of the Vocal Faculty, Vietnam National Academy of Music), said:
With eyes full of emotion, pipa player Vu Thi Mai Phuong (Vietnam National Academy of Music) shared:
Explaining from a professional perspective why Shen Yun’s music resonates with audiences in so many regions, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Social Sciences – Tourism at Hoa Lu University (Ninh Binh), said:
Shen Yun revives traditional culture on a foundation that combines East and West
Pipa player Nguyen Thanh Thu shared her thoughts as follows:
Speaking about this aspect, Mr. Ngo Xuan Thang, former Head of the Arts Division of the Bac Giang Provincial Cultural Center, said:
From a professional point of view, composer Ho Huu Thoi, former Director of the Nghe An Department of Culture and Information, now Chief of Office of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of World Heritage Magazine, exclaimed:
Perhaps that is why Ms. Vu Thanh Lich, a writer working at the Ninh Binh Department of Culture and Sports, believes that Shen Yun’s music is “like a connection between the past, the present and the future”, “not only allowing traditional, ancient values to survive and develop, but also to spread”.
Indeed, through music, Shen Yun upholds its mission of restoring the traditional culture of both East and West, which is gradually fading in modern life.
Speaking about the development of music through the ages, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong said: “The music of the 20th century, especially the late 20th and early 21st centuries, shows pragmatism and existentialism most clearly in its rhythms, changing people in a very different direction. But with Shen Yun, people feel the lasting values of life. It is peace of mind; it is the meeting between humankind and nature.” “I think every kind of music has a certain effect on the listener. But Shen Yun’s music lifts people into another world, the world of imagination and association. When you truly open yourself to Shen Yun’s music, it not only helps you become calmer but also gives you positive energy, which is especially needed in modern life, when society is unstable and people seem much more short-tempered than before. Shen Yun still preserves these things, and I think it would be very good if it spread widely, especially among young people.”
Poet Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat commented on Shen Yun’s mission of reviving traditional culture: “I see that they are going in exactly the right direction, one we should learn from. Tradition is like pearls that need to be preserved and developed. Because it was not created by one or two people; it is the essence of many generations, distilled from one era to the next into sounds like these.”
Education researcher Nguyen Dac Dieu Lam shared with great passion: “As an educator, I think that teaching traditional culture to young people today is very necessary, especially in this era of information explosion and new technologies, when traditional culture greatly needs to be restored and promoted. I think music, as an art form, is the best way to teach morality to all walks of life.”
Speaking about traditional values, singer Nguyen Dinh Tuan Dung shared: “Traditional culture is very precious; it brings people back to what is most original.” And writer Vu Nho also remarked: “To reach deep into people’s hearts, the modern must rest on a solid traditional foundation.” And perhaps this was the common view of many guests at the program. The more they treasure culture and traditional values, the more they feel the goodness, beauty and value that the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra brings to millions of people around the world.
Ms. Truong Phuong Nghi, Vice President of the Vietnam Teachers’ Poetry Club, Standing Committee member and Head of External Relations of the Poetry Club and the Vietnam Traditional Literary Heritage Association, shared:
One of the guests at the event, Mr. Nguyen Trung Truc, President of the Vietnam-Germany Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said:
“Shen Yun’s music is grand and tender, aiming at lofty humane values,” he added.
Mr. Bui Van Sang, a retiree from the beverage industry, also said that Shen Yun’s music is “captivating, bringing people closer together and making one feel that the kindness in people is elevated.”
Sharing this feeling, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Thi Ngo of the Institute of Han-Nom Studies confided:
Poet Tran Dang Khoa also remarked:
Shen Yun’s music: a fountain of youth for health and the soul
Not only does it bring emotions that uplift the audience, Shen Yun’s music also holds wonderful effects thanks to its classical method of composition. People’s Artist Quang Tho shared: “Some people say that for 24 hours they felt no pain at all from their illness. Just from the moments of listening to the Shen Yun orchestra, they naturally felt the pain in their bodies eased. The most precious thing is that it makes their minds more peaceful and they feel their lives are more meaningful.”
In fact, the wonderful power of music was discovered by the ancients long ago. In Chinese characters, the word for medicine comes from the word for music. Add the radical for grass (herbs) to the character for music, and you get the character for medicine. The ancients knew that music has miraculous healing powers, and modern medicine has also proved it. Shen Yun’s classical music brings the precious value of traditional music back to modern society.
Having experienced this, Ms. Truong Phuong Nghi, Vice President of the Vietnam Teachers’ Poetry Club, Standing Committee member and Head of External Relations of the Poetry Club and the Vietnam Traditional Literary Heritage Association, said: “I was sick, but when I came in and listened to Shen Yun’s music, I suddenly felt healthy!”
Or as Ms. Nguyen Thi Sinh, a consultant at PTI Business School, shared:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Binh Dinh, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Musicology, said:
He further explained: “Music has very good healing effects. Abroad, there are many music therapy rooms; for example, Mozart’s music helps heal people with insomnia and heart disease. British scientists have found 10 songs that can help reduce stress, and the top one can reduce stress by 60%; these results are backed by data. And in the East, the ancients knew which pieces were good for the stomach, which ones people with heart disease should listen to, and which ones people with lung disease should avoid“.
At the end of the event, Mr. Vu Danh Mien (working at the Maritime Transport Joint Enterprise – Ministry of Transport) shared very sincerely:
The wish to see Shen Yun live in Vietnam
“As someone who has taught at a conservatory, I think that if Shen Yun comes to perform in Vietnam, it will be a very good opportunity for students to understand more clearly the general direction of our times”, M.A. Nguyen Mai Anh shared.
Sharing the same thought, the Deputy Head of the Faculty of Social Sciences – Tourism at Hoa Lu University – Nguyen Thi Phuong said that if Shen Yun comes to perform in Vietnam, she will introduce it to her family and friends, “and to the thousands of students in the faculty – if they could get to know it, [về Shen Yun] I think it would be very good”.
Ms. Dao Thi Hue shared sincerely: “I don’t know if my wallet can afford this symphony orchestra, but I will go if they come to Vietnam”.
Mr. Pham Van Hao, Deputy General Director of the Hanoi Clean Water Company, affirmed:
“I hope that one day Shen Yun can perform in Vietnam. Then not only my husband and I will go, but I will introduce it to many other people too”, said Ms. Pham Thi Thu Hang.
“Who knows, one day Shen Yun may come to Vietnam, and I hope more people will learn about Shen Yun and see it without having to go abroad. That is my greatest wish”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Sinh.
Ms. Vu Thanh Lich said excitedly: “If Shen Yun comes to perform in Vietnam, I will go and encourage many of my loved ones to come too, because it can truly awaken everyone’s heart. Awaken the heart, awaken the soul, awaken the good emotions in every person’s soul”.
Because the event took place at the same time as Vietnam’s third Group A match against Malaysia in the 2018 AFF Cup, poet Tran Dang Khoa joked during the conversation with guests: “I really love this kind of music, and I very much hope that soon we will hear it, see it and enjoy it not indirectly but live. To those who will invite Shen Yun: be confident, because if even football couldn’t stop people from coming to Shen Yun today, then surely many, many people will come to Shen Yun in the future. And we will receive the energy directly from Shen Yun. It will be wonderful, I can say that”.
Viet My Traditional Culture Company
(Please only republish this information with the consent of Viet My Traditional Culture Company)
