The third joint rehearsal took place on September 13th.
As with the previous session, we began with sectionals.

There were many absences this time, so we started with a small group: nine 1st violins and five 2nd violins. During the sectionals, we focused on pinpointing and practicing tricky passages—*Die Meistersinger* in the morning and *Swan Lake* in the afternoon. For the 2nd violins, Ms. Natsumi Sumihiro provided instruction, and TYO tutor Mr. Masahiro Watanabe joined in, allowing us to re-examine the finer details of our fingering. With fewer players, issues like low volume or a lack of confidence become more apparent; however, this made it a valuable opportunity to confront our own individual challenges.

At 3:00 PM, we held a full ensemble rehearsal. Mr. Hidekazu Fujiwara, who had been coaching the 1st violins, took the conductor's podium to lead us through *Die Meistersinger* and *Swan Lake*. It had been a while since our initial meet-and-greet, and I personally felt there were many parts I had forgotten. I was reminded of the unique sensations of ensemble playing—such as the richness of the sound and knowing which instruments to listen to—things that cannot be fully grasped during individual or small-group practice.

Since the classical music rehearsal finished a bit early, we practiced Director Sakamoto’s *Three TOHOK Songs* and the theme from *Yae no Sakura* under the baton of Mr. Takeda from the administration office.
This was the first time we had rehearsed these two pieces this season, and I believe for many members, it was their first time playing them.
Although it had been a while since I last played them myself, I realized that the feel for things—like the intonation of the vocal cues and bow technique—was still ingrained in my body.
*Yae no Sakura* is a favorite piece of mine, so I was overjoyed to play it again; I felt truly excited for quite a while afterward!

Moving forward, I want to cherish our ensemble time—where we layer our sounds together—while carefully reviewing and addressing the challenges we identified today, one by one.

This report was written by Kokone Komai of the violin section.