World-renowned classical violist Eric Shumsky, was impressed by the integration of Western and Chinese instruments and music he saw in the New Year Spectacular. . He was even more impressed by the depth of emotion expressed, and the powerful effect it had on the audience.
"I thought it was a wonderful program. I was very excited, I saw the advertisements all around New York, when I was in Chinatown, and I thought, "I really want to see this," because I love Chinese dance, and the whole culture, and when I went, I was very, very moved.
"All of the spectacular staging, and the dance teams, and also the orchestra … It was of course a Western orchestra but then you had a pipa, a sona, Chinese instruments in the orchestra, and you featured a very wonderful erhu player, and I was very moved, almost to tears. That was a beautiful performance … It's rare to have someone move you so much. That's what playing is about. I was extremely impressed."
Mr. Sumsky commented on how unusual it is to combine instruments from different cultures, and how difficult.
"I have friends who play beautiful transcriptions of Chinese folk songs for Western string quartets. They know how to play Chinese music because they have lived with it.
"It is very difficult to mix the two. You did it here, and it worked beautifully."
What Mr. Shumsky felt was most important, was not the technical excellence, not the amazing choreography, and not the careful blending of different cultures. Rather, what he felt made the performance truly noteworthy, among all the excellent performances he had seen through his life, was the heart shown by the performers. The audience could feel that the performers were deeply committed to what they were doing.
"Let me go back to our little erhu player again. Music—I don't care how great somebody is—if they don't touch you, it doesn't mean much. That little girl playing, it was so moving that I was on the edge of my chair. If something moves you, it's great."
Mr. Shumsky explained that true communication takes place when the performer transcends technique and directly connects to the listener through the music.
"Music is just a tool, the instrument is just a tool … This essence of sincerity, you can feel it. If you really know, you look right into the person. If it is there inside of you, if it is going to come out it will come out, and you are going to see the real essence."
Feeds