Hello everyone!

I'm Ai Okuyama, a horn player! I'm a third-year university student from Fukushima Prefecture.

I started playing in the orchestra as a club activity in high school, and joined the Tohoku Youth Orchestra as a member of the 8th class in my third year of high school.

I'm naturally shy, so I used to dread going to practice every month...

I would panic when I forgot my music stand, or get discouraged by difficult songs and my inability to perform them...
But the seniors and other students helped me out, and I'm so grateful.

Now that I'm a third-year university student, I often interact with younger students. I try to put to good use what I've learned and been taught.

I look forward to the monthly youth practice sessions, and I love this place because it helps me grow.

One of the most memorable activities from my time with Tohoku Youth was the volunteer concert in Kesennuma. Before the concert, we visited the Folk Museum.

I saw with my own eyes what I had seen on TV and in textbooks, and listened to stories from storytellers.

I can still remember the indescribable shock that ran through my body the moment I saw the piles of rubble and remaining buildings.

It was February, and the wind was very cold, but when I thought about the cold evacuation life that people had been living in at the time of the earthquake, I felt incredibly sad and heartbroken.

So many people came to the concert, and seeing the audience members' eyes welling up as they listened made us performers feel emotional as well. We realized how blessed we are to be able to share music and emotions in the same space.

This experience made me become more conscious of the idea of ​​"delivering my performance to someone."

Until then, I would often focus on performing, but I had never really thought about how to reach the hearts of the listeners.

In a TV program I saw some time ago, a conductor said, "When you hold a concert, the music is with you and you'll never be alone." I love these words, and I want to keep them in my mind.

I am truly grateful that the youth group is able to hold a concert every year.

Through these activities, I have come to appreciate the joy of sharing music and feel a stronger sense of gratitude toward those who support me. I also feel that my curiosity to learn new things has greatly changed me.

The people I have met through youth group activities have also meant a great deal to me.
Creating music with diverse peers—the kind of people you would rarely meet in high school or college—leads to new discoveries every time.

I think one of the unique charms of youth group activities is not just learning instrumental techniques and ways of expression, but also being exposed to different ways of thinking and values ​​through the time we spend together. Sometimes things don't go well and we struggle, but I feel that the process of overcoming obstacles by encouraging each other toward the same goal makes me stronger.

My experience with the youth group has also given me an opportunity to think about how I want to be involved with music in the future. I have come to strongly believe that music is not something that is evaluated based on skill or badness, but rather an important thing that can connect people and support them. In the future, I would like to be someone who can convey to children the joy of learning music and the excitement of taking on challenges. To that end, I want to continue to face myself while cherishing each and every experience I have now.

Going forward, I would like to continue connecting with people through music, grateful for the experiences and encounters I have had so far. I also want to continue to put my heart into each and every performance, without ever stopping my own growth.

11th Captain Mei Okuyama