Sachiko Ogawara / Marketing, Sonoma State University English School / Sonoma, USA

The "Listen to Musicians" section is a section where professionals who usually play music on the stage go down the stage and speak in words.This time, we talked to Sachiko Ogawara, an English school attached to Sonoma State University in the United States, who is planning an "English and music course" instead of a musician.Introducing the famous sensei, "Grammy Award-winning vocalist Christopher Fricchi sensei's vocal workshop and English lessonsI asked about.What kind of thoughts and secret stories does Urakata plan the course for?
(Interview: March 2008)

Interview with Sachiko Ogawara
Green Sonoma State University

In charge of marketing for English school course planning attached to Sonoma State University in the United States. "Grammy Award-winning vocalist Christopher Fricchi sensei's vocal workshop and English lessonsWe are planning a course.



Ogawara Sonoma State University is a university located in Northern California, about an hour to an hour and a half drive from San Francisco.Since this area is a California wine region, it is in a very peaceful and beautiful place with vineyards.

Ogawara Security is very good.

Faculty of Music where workshops and lessons are held

Ogawara Most of them are white.Sometimes I see people from Spanish-speaking countries.

Ogawara A special program is created at the English school attached to Sonoma State University to promote it to each country.

Ogawara: There are differences depending on the semester, but on average, 65% are from Asia, 15% are from Europe, 15% are from South America, and the remaining 5% are from the Middle East. There are many.

Ogawara There are three Japanese people this semester.

Sonoma State University Faculty of Music where you can learn various genres of music

Ogawara Well, I think it's best because there is no one who speaks Japanese (laughs).

Ogawara At first, the director of this English school was thinking about a program that had nothing to do with music, asking "Is there any unique English program?", And I was in charge of the marketing research.It was a very promising program, but as a result, I decided that it was too early and submitted a report.However, I felt that I could make a vocal program using the same framework of "combining English with another", so I made a simple proposal and submitted it, and I passed it, so I will be in charge of this time. I did.

Ogawara: The encounter between me and vocal music was a complete coincidence, but during the winter vacation about two months before I submitted the project, I wanted to learn what I hadn't learned before, so I went to college. I was thinking about taking a winter vacation class.I thought that the psychology or vocal music class would be interesting, but I hadn't studied in either field before, so I asked sensei, "I'm a beginner, do you have any problems?" I sent an email.Then there was only one sensei who replied, and it said "welcome!".So I decided to take that sensei vocal class, which was Christopher Fricchi sensei, the sensei of this course.Actually, I liked singing, but I always thought, "I can't make a loud voice."Even in high school chorus competitions, the conductor always said, "Sing louder."But it didn't come out.So at the very beginning of the vocal class, Chris sensei asked me, "What do you want to master in this course?" And answered, "I want to sing in a loud voice."There were four vocal lessons, but at the last lesson, a loud voice that echoed throughout the rehearsal room really suddenly came out!Since it is a workshop-style group lesson, it takes less than 10 minutes for each individual to actually receive guidance in one lesson, but the voice changes little by little and at the end I am surprised at the loud voice. It was very interesting because it came out (laughs).I was surprised.

Student musical performances are open to the public

Ogawara That's right.Really, I just did it with various instructions such as "consciously like this", "look here", "how to use my body" from sensei, and suddenly a loud voice came out. I was surprised, but I was also surprised to see the people around me (laughs).

Ogawara Yes, now, of course, I understand the theoretical mechanism, and I understand why I made a loud voice, but at that time I didn't have time to learn about the mechanism, and I could just do it with the guidance of sensei. I thought it was like "magic".

Ogawara: I hear a voice, this is (laughs).

Ogawara: Well, it was such a mysterious experience that I started taking lessons little by little after this class was over.Then, after all, the voice will change steadily.You will be able to do things that you couldn't express until now with techniques.It ’s really fun.When I thought about what was the most fun, "I can grow so much even in a completely non-specialized field that I didn't even notice!", Every day became more exciting.
I was a beginner in vocal music because I had such an experience myself, but I would like to invite beginners in vocal music to experience it as well.Also, looking at the instruction to advanced vocal musicians, I was impressed by the scientific and very logical explanation.Even if I sang just a few notes, I stopped and said, "The second note is different now."That's why he also says, "It's different like this." I was instructed to "be conscious of this and use my body like this", but if I couldn't do that, I would pull out one after another, "Then, like this" and "Then, how about this?" When you come out of the room and get guidance that suits that person, your voice changes drastically.

Ogawara Yes, there is a line where the voice echoes beautifully, and when you cross that line, it changes so much that you can clearly see it even if you look around.I want to understand things logically, but when I ask a question to sensei, I always get an accurate and scientific answer.
For example, when asked, "What's happening in the vocal organs when you sing?", "When you use your body like this, it affects the vocal organs like this, and you get this voice. I need this kind of exercise in order to do it, "and the answer came back in three stages. I thought," This person is a great leader, "so I definitely want to experience this vocal lesson for other people. I wanted to make a program.

Ogawara Yes, that's right.But rather than devising it myself, it feels like it can be done naturally if you do what you are told to do.When I talk to people who are learning vocal music, I hear that (sensei) says "no", but I don't know how to do it, and I get frustrated.In my case, I had never returned without being able to do what I was asked to do in Chris sensei's lesson, so I was wondering, "There is such a thing."

Latin jazz of the same size is famous for its professional ability

Chris sensei Ogawara took the first stage at the age of two.It seems that he was dragged on the stage by the role of a teddy bear owned by Wendy's younger brother, a musical called Peter Pan (laughs).After that, at the age of XNUMX, I started playing the guitar for the first time, went to high school and started singing in chorus.At that time, I was awakened to the joy of singing and studied vocal music at the Faculty of Music at Sonoma State University.At that time, he was singing tenor and was doing lead rolls in various musicals.After graduating, a cappella in the high-level American classic world was triggered by a man telling me that the countertenor I used to play until then was "the range of your countertenor can be used as a professional". It seems that he passed the audition of the ensemble group "Chanticleer" of XNUMX men, which is the highest peak in Japan.
Over the 11 years since then, he has participated in more than 1000 concerts around the world.During this time, performances in Japan are also being held.Japanese songs such as "Sakura Sakura" and "Soran Bushi" are sung (laughs).It's very interesting because these music are sung classically.In addition, sensei has won two Grammy Awards for Chanticleer.There are several CDs on sale in Japan, and I can sing almost anything from medieval classical songs to gospel, popular, spiritual, and jazz, but this chanticleer is "voiced" because of its perfect harmony. It is called "Orchestra".When I first heard it, I thought, "This is not a human voice, but an instrument."

Ogawara Since 2003, while working as a solo artist, he has been teaching at Sonoma State University's Faculty of Music, Department of Vocal Music.Also, a new ensemble was formed two years ago and is sung there as well.

Ogawara: Well, there were a lot of pictures in the newspaper during this time as well.

Ogawara Yes.It's the range of soprano.

Ogawara That's right.I have a strong impression that countertenors can only be produced by special people, but in reality, men generally have a voice in that range.Just not aware of it.Therefore, the male student of the vocal music department who is learning from Chris sensei is rather calm and puts out the countertenor range.But sensei is also sung by baritone and tenor.It is also interesting to have a completely different musical expression depending on the range.I've seen newspaper criticisms about Chris sensei's voice as "crystal-like soprano and lyrical baritone," but I thought it was a good expression.

Ogawara He is a very calm person.It's a very popular sensei in the vocal music department. When I tell a vocal music student that I'm learning from Chris sensei, most people just say, "Oh, he's good!"Common evaluations by students for Chris sensei include "always respecting each and every student", "excellent sense of warm humor", and "at what level of students". On the other hand, I'm teaching the students so that they can understand and remember them. ”I think this is what attracts the respect of the students.

Fritchy sensei

Ogawara It's not like getting angry.What you can't do is a problem for that person, so you can think hard about how to approach it.It's not my fault that I can't do it, and it's a problem that needs to be solved in order to go to the next step, so I can see that I'm working hard on how to solve it.

Ogawara: I was accepted (laughs).

Ogawara Yes, I don't think we are afraid of failure.Whether you are a beginner or an advanced student, when you learn something new, you think that trial and error is an inherent part of it.Of course, you can overdo it and fail until you get the hang of it.There are times when weird voices come out or the voices turn inside out.But if you don't make the mistakes that you can safely do and take the plunge, you won't be able to master new things that will lead you to the next step.This class has a very supportive atmosphere so that you can make more and more mistakes and mistakes.It is believed to require failure and trial and error.Therefore, please try and error as much as you can and learn by mistake.

Ogawara That's right.But if you look closely, you can see that even Americans are scared of making mistakes.So, of course, everyone has something to do with it, but in class you don't laugh at the wrong person, so please do your best to make a mistake (laughs).

Ogawara: You can participate regardless of your English proficiency, but it is best to have English proficiency in order to properly listen to sensei's story and convey what you want to hear.Therefore, we recommend that you improve your English as much as possible.

Ogawara This is a XNUMX-week program, but you can participate from a minimum of XNUMX week.

Ogawara There are XNUMX hour and XNUMX minutes workshop once a week and private lessons twice a week.

Ogawara This program does not matter the level of the students, from inexperienced people to the level of music college or higher.Also, the genre of music does not matter.Participation condition is that you like to sing and want to improve your ability.The other day, I asked Chris sensei, "What do you want to convey through this class?" "Singing and developing singing techniques can be done by anyone, regardless of level or age. If you want to do it, regardless of your musical or vocal experience. I think it's very rewarding. "