The original version of The Shaman, for orchestra, was first performed by Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of the orchestra's 20th New Music Festival in January 2011.

Ho has always been fascinated with the concept of shamanism. Practitioners of this tradition are known as "shamans", and they are believed to be the intermediaries between the human and spirit world. They treat physical ailments by mending the person's soul while connecting them to supernatural realms (by way of incantations, dance, music, and other methods). Being Chinese, Ho learned of their historical roles and significance in Asian cultures and their continued existence in modern day forms (eg. China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, etc).

This version of The Shaman was arranged especially for the Taipei Chinese Orchestra and includes a number of traditional Chinese instruments, including: bamboo flutes, mouth organs, suona (a type of double reed wind instrument), Chinese bassoon, Chinese cimbalon (a musical soundbox with metal strings), Chinese banjo, Chinese lute, Chinese guitars, sanxian (Chinese lute with three strings), Chinese zither, gaohu, erhu and zhonghu (Chinese fiddles).