On October 4th, former NHK Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Fuminori Shinozaki (also known as Maro) held a music lesson titled "Mr. Maro's Music Terakoya: Shuhari" at the Fukushima Civic News Hall.

We, members of the TYO Orchestra, also participated.

The first part of the event was an open lesson by Maro.

The participants were a string quintet from TYO Orchestra consisting of violinists Kanon Sasaki and Aiko Chiba, violinist Yuri Naganuma, violinist Toshiro Takahashi, and cellist Chiaki Nagahama, who gave a lesson on Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 "Fate," which they will perform at this year's TYO Concert.

During the lesson, we all worked together to come up with an image for the phrases, and reviewed how to play the string instruments to suit that image.
It was fascinating to see how Maro's words changed the image and color of the performance.

In the second part, we had a "Terakoya" (Storytelling Terakoya) roundtable discussion with Maro about music. He answered questions from the participants on topics such as how to prepare for a performance, how to appreciate music, and music education.

Maro's thoughts are deep in every field, and it was a great opportunity to get everyone thinking.

In the third and final part, the students, a string quintet, presented the results of their lessons. This time, they performed a two-movement piece, and it was clear that their performance image was coming together, resulting in a performance that was enjoyable to listen to.

Although the event was held within a limited time frame, we were able to have a very fulfilling time.

Tomorrow, October 5th, is this month's TYO joint rehearsal day. As conductor Yanagisawa is on leave this time, Maro will be in charge of the orchestra.

Let's make it a fruitful day.

I will be sharing what I felt from Maro's talk, as well as reports on the joint rehearsal, in the members-only email newsletter, a reward for TYO crowdfunding, on October 10th.

I hope you will sign up for this as well and keep an eye on TYO's activities.

Look forward to the next report!

Tp: Agatsuma Beniai