Concertmaster: Shen Yun a “Materialization of the Divine”

GENEVA—Classical violinist Bogdan Zvoristeanu attended a performance at the BFM (Bâtiment des Forces Motrices) in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 27.

“What is achieved is a materialization of the divine—it’s extraordinary!” Mr. Zvoristeanu said after the performance. “This was really beautiful. It is a treat for the mind—that’s the best way I can express it.”

In a way, it was beyond a treat, and an inspiration that was almost a cleansing.
“The music is very touching,” said Mr. Zvoristeanu, who serves as concertmaster of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. The award-winning violinist has been invited as a soloist and chamber musician to festivals around the world, including in several countries in Asia.

He said the combination of instruments in Shen Yun—a Western orchestra with traditional Chinese instruments as permanent members—took the audience “to another dimension, to a past which is very clean, very pure, where there is a lot of truth.”

Truth in Art

New York-based Shen Yun aims to revive the traditional Chinese culture, a culture 5,000 years old and once nearly destroyed in mere decades under communist rule. It was a culture that revered the divine, placed emphasis on goodness and self-refinement, and harmony among heaven, earth, and humankind.

Today, four companies of equal size tour the world, bringing the divinely inspired culture to the stage through the performing arts.

Mr. Zvoristeanu said the art Shen Yun presented showed the truth, which is not something just lost in China, but in the world as a whole.

“Today, the truth is somewhat hidden by the over-valuing of material things,” Mr. Zvoristeanu said.

“Today I felt this very strongly, because what we lack are exactly these values that are deeply human. Today the word ‘human’ is soiled very easily. When we say ‘human,’ people say right away that it is not perfect. But in fact, humanity implies the divine and the divine is perfect,” he said.

“We just forgot about it and this show reminds us of it.”

The instrumentation of Shen Yun’s unique orchestra inspired Mr. Zvoristeanu.

“People are very familiar with the Western sounds of these instruments made 100 or 300 years ago or more, but with the addition of the ancient Chinese instruments dating back thousands of years, there is a different sensuality and a power of expression that is extremely strong,” Mr. Zvoristeanu said.

“Everything comes from within and communicates within, it comes from the heart and it goes to the heart, it goes through the mind and it remains anchored there,” he said. “It is an immense source of inspiration not only for the artists but for everyone.”

Mr. Zvoristeanu said these ideas came across and motivated him to take a different pace in his day-to-day life.

“It is more than a hope, it is a certainty that our lives need to improve, our personal lives and the lives of others, and the best way to improve our own lives is to improve the lives of others,” he said. Mr. Zvoristenau said he also noted a social aspect of harmony and cooperation different from the culture of individualism in the West. “That creates a whole that is much richer than what a single person could offer.”

He expressed gratitude to Shen Yun: “It’s really fabulous and thanks [to Shen Yun] for producing this exceptional and intricate show. It’s exquisite.”