On Friday, November 2023, 11, the [DUO Project 10] concert was held at Hakuju Hall as the culmination of the DUO Project, which started with auditions in March.
The performances included Ravel's "Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Violin" by Ueda Haruko (piano) and Mizukoshi Nao (violin), Brahms' "Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Violin" by Shirase Gen (piano) and Takezawa Kyoko (violin), and, after a break, Saint-Saëns' "Sonata No. 1 for Piano and Violin" by Shirase Gen (piano) and Mizukoshi Nao (violin).All of the pieces were performed with passion.
During the dialogue following the performance, they shared their honest thoughts as they looked back on the six months they had spent making music together as part of the DUO project.
Nao Mizukoshi (violin)
I feel relieved after playing it. I was nervous because it was a piece in a genre I thought I was not good at, but I played it while remembering the coaching. I like listening to Saint-Saëns' music, but I'm afraid to play it, but I've always wanted to play it, so I'm glad I took on the challenge. However, it's such a difficult piece that I might not play it for a while.
In this DUO project, I was taught the fundamentals of music-making, how to construct a song. I remember that in the first coaching session, Professor Oyama compared it to cooking and said, "Do you go shopping without thinking about what you're going to make?" It made me realize that my previous approach of just being able to play a note and then just composing a song with the feeling that I'll try it out like this was a big mistake. I learned that you first need to have an image of how you want to play, and then think about what technique you need to use to play in order to produce the sound you want. That's what song-making is.
Gen Shirase (piano)
The project involved playing two pieces with different characters with two different violinists, and it was a new experience for me.
The 2-hour one-on-one lesson from Professor Ueda XNUMX days before the performance was truly life-changing. For example, I had been told by other people to do this because my body was too stiff, but after XNUMX months of accumulated experience, the timing and mental aspects all worked together well, and what he said went straight in, and I took the stance of trying to digest it myself and worked hard for the last XNUMX days. There were things I knew but couldn't do, and things I didn't understand, and things I should have known but they just didn't flow from my body, and I couldn't make the sound I imagined at all, but I feel like I've gotten much better at it. It's about how I use my body, it's about my mentality, it's about technique, and I feel like I've grown even a little bit in the deeper aspects of it.
Kyoko Takezawa (violin)
Brahms' Sonata No. 2 is a repertoire that I want to treasure for the rest of my life. As I layered the sounds with Mr. Shirase and we talked about how to best express the beauty of the piece, he gave me all sorts of ideas, which I tried out and communicated with him.
As we continued the session, I was able to feel the moment when Shirase-san grasped something. Also, in today's performance, I tried to play this Brahms piece in a way that would create a sense of happiness, and I wanted to deliver love to Shirase-san and feel his love for me while I played.
Haruko Ueda (piano)
I was very happy to think that the message I conveyed to the two young people during the open lesson had properly resonated with them. In the lesson with Shirase-kun, it was a process of massaging and loosening him up through dialogue. I gradually began to feel the flow within him, and I was very happy to see that the teachings were being conveyed through a relationship of trust and that he was getting better and better. I listened to the talk thinking that there was meaning in participating in this project. Thank you very much.
Heiichiro Oyama (Artistic Director)
I am happy to see that they have grown by letting go of their preconceptions and accepting new things. I hope they will use this experience to encourage themselves on their new paths.
Music Dialogue's activities to nurture young artists are supported by our wonderful audiences. We appreciate your continued support.
This time, we invited 19 international students.
We received messages in the language of each country.
This is a look at the Discovery Series at Tsukiji Honganji Temple in June 2023.
Music Dialogue occasionally invites international students to events to provide an opportunity for global dialogue.
