December Joint Training Session Report

On Saturday, December 23rd, we held our fourth joint practice session of the year in Fukushima City. As it was the last practice session of the year, it was a kind of Christmas present for the members and a year-end digging around the treasury. We gathered at 9:30 in the morning and held the Tohoku Youth Orchestra's first composition workshop in the morning. We welcomed these two people.

The man on the left is Dai Fujikura , a contemporary composer. He has won numerous international composition awards and has been commissioned to compose for numerous music festivals and orchestras around the world. He is a world leader in the field. This workshop was made possible thanks to Fujikura's long-standing relationship with Ryuichi Sakamoto, a fan of his work. For our concert in March of this year, he composed and arranged "Three TOHOKU Songs," based on three folk songs from each of the three Tohoku prefectures where our members are from. We recently announced on this website that the sheet music was released.

The woman next to me was Mari Adachi , an up-and-coming viola player with a brilliant career who will make her CD debut next month . This was a luxurious event in which she was able to play a piece created by a member of the orchestra on the spot.

First, Fujikura explained the scale of the viola in a light-hearted manner using a whiteboard, then Adachi played a piece by Toru Takemitsu. Fujikura confessed that he liked muting, and Adachi demonstrated the mute technique. Fujikura's comment that it produced an imaginary distance was very touching.

Although Fujikura-san had told me beforehand that "the participants will learn various special playing techniques," I had underestimated the "special" part. First of all, from now on. If I were to say, "Ladies of the world, this can become an instrument!" I might be accused of gender-based cognitive bias...

Fujikura is holding clothespins. He is busily exploring the relationship between the way he holds them and the tone they produce, like a scientist conducting a chemical experiment. The next prop he brings out is,

Well, an eraser! Of course, Fujikura-san was searching for the sound of the eraser by turning it horizontally and vertically, and comments like "It sounds like a folk instrument" and "It sounds like a deserted old man" made the members of the TYO viola section through Adachi-san smile with big smiles. After this, they tried attaching a hairpin, then one or two different types of hairpins that the members had, to the strings, and Fujikura-san put aluminum foil on the strings and wrapped it around them, saying "It's common in Germany," and it was already a scavenger hunt on the viola strings.

Just when you think the next step will be a grated radish or a cutting board, they move on to a "special technique" in which the bow is used to play a special part of a stringed instrument. "Sul ponticello." I have no idea what that means. Apparently it's Italian. Learning that makes it sound like some delicious pasta is coming out, but apparently the bow is used to draw the top of a stringed instrument . The wind instrument players seem to share the same feeling of "I don't know anything about that," and there is nothing they can do but stare blankly at the strange behavior of the string instrument players.

After that, I remember rubbing the bow around the instrument, and finally turning the instrument over and rubbing the bow, all of which I remember feeling a sense of professional duty.

Now, Professor Fujikura says, "Now, I'd like you all to compose your piece."

Question marks were suddenly cast on all the members of the group at the practice venue.

At that time, he arrived at today's joint practice venue.

Before we knew it, director Ryuichi Sakamoto was chatting with this year's Conmis (short for "concertmistress," the female form of "concertmaster," and the head first violin), Chiba Hazuki (a first-year graduate student).

Fujikura's notes were still on the whiteboard.

Now the members are composing the music.

These are the people surrounding percussionist Towa Eijun (a first-year high school student from Fukushima City), who has voluntarily participated in Fujikura's composition workshops many times in the past.

Toh, who aspires to be a composer in the future, has composed the opening fanfare for the past two TYO concerts, and recently won third place (there was no one awarded first or second place) in the composition division of the Toho Gakuen Music Competition for high school students. Toh has grown a lot in height and is in the prime of his development.

A scene from "Professor's Rounds" (I tried to make it reminiscent of Toyoko Yamazaki's "The White Tower," but it's not as dignified). A commemorative photo with the three mothers, who came for the noble cause of observing their children's practice (I think I heard someone say, "I'm so touched!").

Now, Adachi-san performed the freshly made pieces by the members on the spot, while Fujikura-san watched and listened intently. What a luxury! First up was double bassist Hirotaka Yamazaki (a first-year university student).

Next up is the lead trumpet player, Nakamura Yuto (4th year university student).

Fujikura-san put a lot of pressure on me to finish the song for the viola part.

Just when we thought the next piece would be by bassoonist Nishimura Yuri, who was holding sheet music, Adachi performed a piece written by flute player Kanno Momoka next to her.

Then, they performed in front of everyone. Trumpet player Taiga Ide, who joined the group this year, listened to his own piece from a special seat.

Next, Endo Hiroto (trumpet), a native of Morioka who has participated since the first term and entered a music college this year, also experienced the world premiere of his own work from a special seat in the sand-covered seats.

A piece by the trio consisting of (from left) Suzuki Shoko, Sato Hikari, and Muraoka Ryo, who attracted attention solely because of their viola playing, has also been completed.

As a result, everyone was able to start composing without any problems. My initial, extremely abnormal worries about whether the composition workshop itself would work turned out to be simply unfounded fears on the part of the adults.

Other members also volunteered to perform their pieces, but the finale was performed by Tsutsui Atsushi (trombone, second-year university student). Fujikura also said, "It's amazing that Adachi can play everything on sight!" I was able to experience the creativity of the members of the orchestra that I had never noticed before. Thank you very much.

And finally, it was lunchtime. As we left the practice hall,

Chiba Daiki, a third-year college student playing the horn, is running wild in his Santa Claus costume.

He had brought a gift of strawberry shortcake (from a Western-style pastry shop in Fukushima City) from Director Sakamoto to distribute to everyone.

In addition, on this day we received gifts of Morinaga & Co. sweets, Morinaga Milk Caramel, DARS, and Ototto, from the Morinaga Angel Foundation, which supports our annual concert.

The Tohoku Youth Orchestra Angel Girls was quickly formed and this commemorative photo was taken to express our gratitude.

Thank you very much to the Morinaga Angel Foundation.

Thanks to you, lunchtime was a fun time.

This is a scene from the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, where members range from elementary school students to university students.

After the lunch break, we all gathered together. It was time for a photo shoot for this year's official photos, artist photos, and promotional materials. This year, we were directed by Rikako Nagashima, the "art teacher" who oversees all aspects of TYO's design, and the photos were taken by photographer Ryuichi Maruo.

The members respond to Director Sakamoto's playful call of "Let's all have fun!" in their own playful ways.

It's moments like these that call for creativity. Some people even play the violin as dessert after a meal.

And so, this year's Tohoku Youth Orchestra was formed.

Since we had the chance, we also included a version featuring Fujikura Dai and Adachi Mari.

Director Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was in Japan from his home base in New York and took time out of his busy schedule to attend the event, spoke of his ambitions to challenge himself to improve the musicianship of the orchestra this year, in front of a group of members, about 30% of whom he was meeting for the first time.

This event was also featured in an article in the Fukushima Minpo newspaper .

The afternoon rehearsal began with the first movement of Debussy's "La Mer," one of the main pieces for the March concert.

Director Sakamoto and Professor Fujikura are checking the performance level by keeping track of the scores.

Next we will practice Stravinsky's "The Firebird" (1919 version).

For about two hours, they worked hard on two pieces that are said to be difficult even for an adult orchestra.

After a break, Director Sakamoto also joined the practice in the ensemble.

First, we will practice "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," which will be performed for the first time at TYO, on Christmas Eve.

Next up was TYO's customary Sakamoto song, "ETUDE."

Together with conductor Toshio Yanagisawa, the director also clapped his hands to instruct the performers on how to keep the rhythm.

Everybody clap your hands together!

Next is "Behind the Mask," a song from Director Sakamoto's YMO days, arranged with kind permission of Miho Hazama.

The beginning is busy with horns and percussion. As someone from the generation that listened to "Behind the Mask" as techno pop, it's deeply moving to listen to this masterpiece arranged for orchestra.

In addition, "Three TOHOKU Songs" will be performed for the first time in front of composer and arranger Dai Fujikura.

"That's good," Fujikura kindly complimented him, and he immediately began revising the score himself on the spot.

This kind of experience itself is a valuable one for the members.

The concert will close with a practice of Sakamoto's piece "Still Life" using only string instruments, in preparation for his performance with guest performer Yoshinaga Sayuri.

This piece is made up of over 10 score pieces that each perform separately in their own order and tempo. It's a concept that is similar to Sakamoto's latest work "async" . The director also recorded the performance on his smartphone to check it.

And so, a long and packed day of practice came to an end. Everyone was reluctant to leave and talked in a circle after practice.

Next year's concerts will be on March 21st at the Hatsudai Opera City Concert Hall in Tokyo, and on the 31st at the Tokyo Electron Hall in Sendai. We are working hard to provide a wonderful performance, so please come along.

We have also started a crowdfunding campaign to ask for support for concerts by volunteer members in the disaster-stricken areas. We hope you will continue to support the Tohoku Youth Orchestra next year.

I wish you all a happy new year.