This is a report on the 7th joint training session.

On Sunday, December 23rd, we held our last joint practice session of the year in the hall of the Fukushima Minpo headquarters in Fukushima City. Just like a year ago , we had Dai Fujikura , a contemporary composer who is active on the world stage, come and hold a composition workshop for two hours in the morning.

He was full of energy, and it was hard to believe he had only just arrived in Tokyo from London the day before; from the very start of the morning he was engaged in lively, high-energy conversation, and, moreover, he was the only one of the 100 or so people in the rehearsal room wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt. To get himself in shape prior to composing, he began by explaining the piece, which he would be playing, from 1971, "Tuning Meditation," by American composer Pauline Oliveros, who passed away two years ago. The score itself does not contain any musical notes, and is made up of text that fits on one A4 page. Here is an excerpt from the opening translation by Fujikura himself:

"First, play a note at a pitch that you can hear in your mind. After concentrating on your own sound, listen to the sounds of the other players and tune as closely as possible to the same pitch. Listen carefully once again and this time play a note at a pitch that no one has played before. (Continued)"

However, as you can see, the whole thing is made up of three parts. First, we decided to try it out in each section, rather than as a group.

The white-haired gentleman to the left of the double bass player is our director, Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is currently in Japan from New York and managed to find time between his busy schedule to join us for the first joint rehearsal of the season.

Director Sakamoto couldn't help but step forward into the group of musicians who were performing and recording on their smartphones.

Play the whole piece through.

Fujikura-san seemed to find the overlapping textures of the floating sounds more interesting than he had imagined. He commented excitedly, "The first one sounds like Takemitsu (Toru), and the third one sounds like Ligeti (György)!"

Once the orchestra members had warmed up their ears, another guest, cellist Yamazawa Satoshi, was introduced.

Not only because I had seen his glittering career beforehand, but also because Yamazawa-san had a gentlemanly air about him! Fujikura-san was the only one wearing only a T-shirt. Anyway, he gave us a light-hearted explanation of natural harmonics, starting with the confirmation of the range of the cello instrument.

I tried to give my own easy-to-understand summary of natural harmonics, but it turned out to be lacking... If you are interested, I would be grateful if you would do some searching.

After this, Yamazawa demonstrated a number of special playing techniques that he had compiled and linked to various pieces.

First, there is a technique commonly referred to as "Seagull," which produces a sound similar to the cry of a seagull.

The string players were hesitant, but gave it a try.

It seems difficult to play the double bass because you have to slide your fingers along the fretboard, but when you do, it produces a powerful sound. Director Sakamoto is also giving a demonstration, and conductor Toshio Yanagisawa is watching with amusement.

After this, Yamazawa played a number of special techniques excerpted from "osm" and "Eternal Escape" composed by Dai Fujikura, as well as contemporary music pieces by Zimmermann, Lindberg, Lachenmann, etc. The performances were all surprising, making me wonder how the cello could produce such sounds.

Mr. Yanagisawa couldn't help but ask each of them enthusiastic questions.

Now that the members have been enlightened, they are taking on the challenge of composing. Dai Fujikura says that it is important to compose for others, not to compose for yourself.

After about 20 minutes, a member who had finished the song came forward.

First up was Yuki Tsuchida, a first-year university student from Fukushima who plays the viola. This was a luxurious workshop where a professional player played a brand new piece for us.

He performed the score, full of special techniques that he had just learned, with ease. The fresh sound resonated powerfully.

Next, Captain Isogai Hinako will perform a piece by horn student Tajima Shiori.

Fujikura was also impressed with the new technique of removing parts of the horn and playing them.

The third piece was by this season's concert mistress (head first violin), Sato Miyu, a fourth-year university student.

It was a truly blessed situation to be able to ask Yamazawa to fulfill my requests as a full-fledged composer.

Apparently the double basses were composed by a group within the same section.

On behalf of the group, Rin Katsuta, a second-year university student from Fukushima, gave the presentation.

The demonstration will be performed by Yoshida Asuka and Kaneko Ryusuke, a senior-junior duo from Fukushima University.

I thought the ending of the song was quite intense, and it turns out the song is about the fact that Kaneko's glasses had just broken.

It certainly makes me want to cry. If you think that the piece based on this experience will be performed at next year's concert, you could say it's a gain from losing. What if I could express my sorrow and lament more?

The next speaker was Momoka Kanno, a first-year student at a music college in Tokyo, but originally from Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, she was one of the members of the orchestra who had to abandon her hometown against her will .

Apparently, the piece expresses the sounds of a series of human actions, including the opening and closing of a door. Yamazawa-san acted as a composer and gave direction to the performance (humble me).

It seems that the fifth graders are also making progress on their compositions. Yota Taguchi, a fifth grader from Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, joined us this term.

He's too shy to show his sheet music to anyone.

And here too.

Saito Reiri, a first year junior high school student who also plays the cello from Iwate Prefecture, is shy. I wonder if people from Iwate Prefecture are shy.

The person who takes the initiative to step forward at times like this is Hashimoto Karin (double bass) from Iwaki City, Iwate Prefecture, who is also the leader of the crowdfunding team.

It's impressive to have Yamazawa play the sheet music using the special playing techniques that he has so boldly absorbed.

Hikari Sato, a fourth-year viola student, also composed a piece as a final push before graduating from the orchestra.

I was looking forward to the actual concert.

Yamazaki Hirohiro (a second-year university student) on the double bass finally raised his hand.

Rather than musical notation, he composes in a text-writing style in a notebook.

Without giving away any spoilers, it was a conceptual piece that did not involve musical instruments, but rather turned items that each member of the orchestra had into instruments.

Yamazaki himself conducted the piece with finger signs, demonstrating his masterful talent as a composer.

Director Sakamoto said a few words at the end of the two-hour workshop.

Director Tsunezune commented that this "ear-opening" experience has resulted in more proactive composers being born than last year.

A talk with Fujikura, who was originally a big fan of Director Sakamoto and went on to become a composer.

(Although I know it's rude) It's like a back-and-forth between a comedy duo.

To conclude the morning practice, Fukushima Minpo's Business Director Araki Hideyuki introduced the team and gave words of encouragement from JA Kyosai, who provides us with generous support every year, and from its Fukushima Prefecture Headquarters Director Kanno Yoshio.

During the lunch break, Fujikura decided to try playing the piece that Taguchi had been shy about performing at the composition workshop earlier.

Taguchi-kun couldn't help but look delighted by Yamazawa-san's divine performance. I'm glad.

Lunch break is lunchtime.

At this point, Director Sakamoto presented all the members with some Christmas gifts.

Classic strawberry shortcake.

It was delicious! Thank you very much.

To go with the cake, the Fukushima Prefectural Headquarters of JA Kyosairen also served tea. Earl Grey, a black tea specialty store in Fukushima City, served Earl Grey and Rooibos tea at their pop-up store.

Although it was a short break of just under an hour, we enjoyed the combination of cake and tea.

In the meantime, both masters were able to view the piece by one of the orchestra members, Tomo Eijun, a second-year high school student from Fukushima who aspires to be a composer and whose work recently won first place at the Toho Gakuen National Junior Music Competition.

The camera focuses on the tense moment between the three of them.

That's right. The people in the photos so far have been not only reporters from the Fukushima Minpo and Iwate Nippo general incorporated associations, but also cameras from two TV programs that were there to cover the event that day.

Therefore, at the beginning of the afternoon practice session, we had the annual gathering of employees, which was for this year's artist photo, or "promotional material."

There were many cameras lined up.

Tuning up in preparation for the afternoon rendezvous.

First up is Director Sakamoto's composition "Blu". This is the first rehearsal with the 4th generation members.

Following last month's joint practice session, the group performed "Kugui no Sora," a commissioned piece by Sendai-born composer Aya Nishina.

Miyagawa Hiroshi from the secretariat took photos of the performance of the first movement, with the audience calmly watching with the score in hand, in the style of a photojournalist, using a telephoto lens.

Pictured next to him is official photographer Ryuichi Maruo.

The Tohoku Youth Orchestra is truly supported by the kindness of many professionals. The members must repay their kindness with their performances!

During the break, the maestros gathered around Aya Nishina and commented on the commissioned work. I'm looking forward to the second and third movements.

It's a valuable break for the team members.

A gift from Morinaga-san!

Thank you very much. It's the holiday season after all, so sugar is a treat. Come on sweet!

To refresh our mood, we played Brahms' Symphony No. 2 through to the end!

Everyone is curious to see what kind of performance it will produce.

Director Sakamoto, who selected the music, has loved Brahms No. 2 (commonly known as "Brahms No. 2") since he was a child, and apparently listened to the music while looking at the score for the first time in about 50 years.

Then, at the end of the day's practice, Mr. Yanagisawa gave a summary.

To sum up,

"It's obvious that some people haven't been practicing. Please don't make the conductor angry. If the conductor gets angry, it will damage the relationship with the members and it will be impossible to repair."

He expressed frustration like never before.

To all members, please make sure you practice to the best of your ability when we have our joint practice in January. Remember, you only show your face once. You can see that the gentle Mr. Yanagisawa is over his boiling point, even though he is trying to keep it under control, right?

Advance tickets for the concert in March 2019 are now on sale. As long as there are customers who are willing to pay to come and see you, you are all professionals. Keep that in mind!

This week, I, who play the role of "supervising teacher," hosted a regular program on Shibuya Ward's community radio station, "Shibuya Radio," and although I'm not sure how effective it would be, we decided to feature the Tohoku Youth Orchestra .

We hope you will all look forward to our Morioka performance on Saturday, March 30th and our Tokyo performance on Sunday, March 31st.

We ask for your continued support for the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.