Junko Fukuda / Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de LYON

Junko Fukuda / Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de LYON
After graduating from Utsunomiya University Graduate School and Tokyo University of the Arts, he went to France and studied a wide range of piano accompaniment (instrumental music, song, opera), piano solo, chamber music, clave sun, keyboard harmony, vocal technique, etc. at the Piano Accompaniment Department of Lyon National Academy of Music. Graduation.Studied Ecriture at the Lyon Conservatory of Music.
Received incentives from the French government, Mesena Musical, etc., and toured Japan as a member of the trio TriO + with brass instruments formed at the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon. Several concerts were held under the auspices of the Japanese Consular Office.
Participated in the Meister Kurze of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and performed at the completion concert.In addition to his own recital performances, he has appeared in numerous concerts mainly in Japan and France for solos, chamber music, accompaniment, etc., and has also been involved in planning, often co-starring with orchestras, brass bands, and choruses.
Since he was enrolled in the Conservatory of Music, he has been an accompaniment for the Lyon National High Conservatory of Music, the Lyon Regional Conservatory of Music, Echo Ludo Musik, and has been an official accompaniment for several international competitions in the EU.After graduating, he continued to teach at the Répétiteur at the Lyon National Opera and Saint-Etienne Opera, and also at the Burgundy Higher Music Normal School.
In addition, the song is recorded on the CD "Adventure", co-starring with alto horn player Sophie Buduro.Currently, he is active as an accompaniment assistant at the Lyon Conservatory of Music and as a pianist in the choir "Emerte".
--Adventure / Sophie Buduro
http://sophie-bb.com/adventure/
-Emerte
http://www.emelthee.fr/
・ Emerte documentary video
https://vimeo.com/190394960
https://vimeo.com/190395008
https://vimeo.com/190399668
https://vimeo.com/190452222
https://vimeo.com/190452216
https://vimeo.com/190452223
・ Video at the time of appearance on France Musik (radio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJYIEBW7i54

-Please tell us your background.

Fukuda: I'm from Tochigi prefecture, so I first entered Utsunomiya University, and after finishing university and graduate school, I went to the graduate school of Tokyo University of the Arts.After that, I enrolled in the piano accompaniment department of the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon.After that, I had been doing various accompaniment work since I was a student, but even after graduation, I have been working at various places such as the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon, the Opera House in Lyon and Saint-Etienne, and the Burgundy High School in Dijon. I used to work at a music normal school and so on, but now I'm accompaniment at the Lyon Conservatory of Music.
-Did you go smoothly from leaving Tokyo University of the Arts to enrolling in the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon?

Fukuda: Yes.However, since I was a student in Japan for a long time, I took it with the intention of testing my strength.I felt that if it didn't work, it wouldn't work.
-Did you have a hard time learning the language when you took the exam?

Fukuda: I didn't have a particular exam because I needed only the minimum level of language proficiency, but I was doing French as a second foreign language at Tokyo University of the Arts, so I concentrated on my language just before. I studied.
-I think French is a rather difficult language, but it's amazing that the local communication was solid at the time of the exam.

Fukuda: Well, it's difficult if you don't get used to French.Also, even if you study by yourself, it is different when you actually talk and use it in social life.The tempo of conversation is different, and getting used to it is very important.
-So, you were working as an accompaniment, so how did you talk about your work?

Fukuda: At first, there was a poster saying that the school was looking for an accompaniment for a music school, and a friend found it and was invited with a feeling like "Why don't you do this together?"So when I contacted him, it was the first time I was allowed to go.
-From that point on, he began to work as a teacher.

Fukuda: Most of the accompaniment work is a one-off job, so if you work little by little for projects that require a pianist for only this period, the story will gradually come to you.After that, my teacher introduced me to a big job.Sensei, a professor of accompaniment at the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon, recommended me to the main points.That's why I worked for the Opera House and the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon.
-You've been very good since you were a student.

Fukuda: No, no.When I was really there, there were a lot of talented kids around, especially monsters, so why am I here?I was always screaming at my student life, but I think he introduced me to me because I felt sorry for him.
-Is it the result of being rubbed at a high level?

Fukuda: I'm really glad I went.I was in my late twenties too, so at first the opinions around me were, "Well, are you going to study abroad now?" And "Stop it." I went to France thinking that it was my last chance, and I was studying while crying because it was very difficult, but I'm glad I had that period.
-Since then, you have been doing various jobs from morning till night.

Fukuda: That's right.Thankfully, I had a lot of connections and received requests continuously, so I couldn't refuse what I could do since I was in Japan, so if I take on anything and have a little time in my schedule, it's OK. I have a bad personality, but I put in as much work as I could.
-So now you're also an accompaniment assistant at the Lyon Conservatory of Music and a pianist for a professional choir.How did this come about?

Fukuda: That was also via the National High Conservatory of Music in Lyon.Originally, the professor gave me my contact information.Sensei, who conducts a professional choir, is also a teacher at the Lyon Conservatory of Music, so I went on behalf of the accompaniment once, met there, and hit it off both musically and humanly, and then asked. It is said that they are now available.
-In general, do you often get a professor to introduce you to your performance work?

Fukuda: That's right.The rest is like introducing each other among friends.Mostly everyone has a list of friends, for example, when I suddenly can't do it, I give them the contact information of my friends in order, for example, in Lyon, the accompaniment is connected, where and what. Everyone around me knows that there are people.
-After all connection is important.

Fukuda: That's right.I think your friends are very important.
-What made you interested in music?

Fukuda: My grandfather originally did a sensei of school music, and at that time he taught music, calligraphy, and art-related subjects, so I was teaching piano at home even after I retired.By the time I was born I was already teaching the piano at home, when I was a baby I could hear the piano all the time, my grandfather himself was playing it, and the piano lessons were so popular that there were so many students and lessons. When I went out to the room and listened to it, the students loved me because it was a baby.There was always music, and it was fun to clapping while listening, and I naturally fell in love with music.At home, I had a set of various instruments such as an upright piano, an old so-called stepping organ, and a xylophone, harmonica, and vertical flute, so I was playing on the piano while singing and searching for the melody myself. did.
-Isn't it an environment where you grew up surrounded by musical instruments?Did you feel like you were first taught a piano lesson by your grandfather?

Fukuda: That's right at first, but as an extension of play, it doesn't work well with my family, so I always ended up fighting rather than being taught. I think I went to the outside sensei to learn when I was 8 years old.By then, I had done all the steps of reading music and Bayer myself, and when I was eight, I went to learn from my neighborhood sensei.
-Did you enter the music school in earnest when you were at Tokyo University of the Arts?

Fukuda: Utsunomiya University was a music department in the Faculty of Education, so it was from that time.
-High school is an ordinary high school.

Fukuda: Yes.I was studying normally until high school.However, I've always wanted to be a pianist, and because my grandfather was sensei, I first said that I wanted to be a school sensei when I was little, but I heard the word pianist for the first time when I went to elementary school. I thought that there was such a word and such a profession, and then I was interested.I had somehow wanted to be a pianist, but my parents didn't really agree with playing music, so I warmed myself up.I was interested in it, but I was dismissed as saying, "Don't say such a stupid thing."
-So you said that you loved singing as well as the piano. Did you study singing as well?

Fukuda: No, I was in the Faculty of Education, so I did some basic vocalizations such as singing in Solfege, but I couldn't sing at all.There is no voice.
-Are there any other instruments that you were interested in other than the piano?

Fukuda: When I was in junior high school, I played percussion in the brass band club.I also liked composing and I liked studying.
-Did you listen to a lot of classical music at that time?

Fukuda: That's right.It was 100% classical and I hardly listened to other genres.
-I don't seem to listen to songs at all.

Fukuda: It was totally.
-Did you not have much interest?

Fukuda: I think it's imprinted, but my grandfather was a tough person, so even if he had a TV on, he would turn it off when a song was played.It's not a good or bad problem, I don't hate it, but I wasn't in an environment where I could listen.
-It's like a classical gifted education.

Fukuda: No, it's not a gifted education at all.
-It's amazing.However, I think it is a result of my efforts that the pianist job I dreamed of at that time is playing an active role in France, the home of music.

Fukuda: No, I feel like I came here just because I really wanted to do it.What's more, I wanted to be a sensei at school first, and that was finally fulfilled, so I'm happy that my two dreams have come true.
-I've heard that you were moved from morning till night while eating rice balls, but it's still quite difficult to maintain your work as a professional, isn't it?I think it's amazing that we have overcome such penances.

Fukuda: Playing requires physical strength, and you have to be in good physical condition, so physical condition management is important.For example, depending on the day, I may be tired or unmotivated, but I can't make such an excuse, so I think that's the hard part of this profession.
-Are there any things you are careful about when managing your physical condition?

Fukuda: I don't have anything in particular, but I try to get a good night's sleep.Also, I try to eat what I want to eat.I think that what I want to eat at that time is what my body wants, so for example, if I want to eat sweets, I eat sweets.
-That's right.It's easy to think that being thin is stoic.

Fukuda: You have to eat in a well-balanced manner, but do you say honestly to yourself?
-Do you have any favorite food?

Fukuda: I like everything.When I was often invited by my friends, I was told that when Junko came, I had to convert it to two servings, but recently I've eaten a lot less.
-Is there a Japanese supermarket in Lyon?

Fukuda: There are also Japanese Americans.There are also Chinese and Asian supermarkets.
-Is that so.Now for the next question, please tell us if there are any good points or bad points in Europe (France) when studying music.

Fukuda: It's the home of music, so I feel that the atmosphere is different, or that it's closely related to daily life.So, even if you don't go to school properly, it's great just to come in a short time.I think that the people around me have a direct reaction to the music, which makes me happy, or that they are very honest with what they play, and they return good or bad.Also, it's the same thing, but during the lesson, when I was a student, and when I'm a teacher now, for example, when I'm taking a lesson in a group of two or three people, I play one person. How was the other one you were listening to?I hear that.I personally thought that it was amazing that there was a lively exchange of opinions, and that was a stimulus, so I once did it to Japanese students. It was, but it ended up as a scene.I'm refraining from commenting on people, I think that's very different. There are some children who go to sensei, so when I was studying abroad for the first time, I was next to them, and sometimes I thought.Also, I went to Vienna before I went to France, and of course in France, but the humidity is low, so the way I hear the sound is different.I learned later that the sound of the piano was completely different, or that it could be played reasonably, and that it was actually the difference in humidity.In Japan, I noticed that I was touching too hard probably because of the high humidity.The instrument can be in good condition.The piano should be damp.There is such a thing, and I feel that the way the vibration of the air is transmitted is different.
-The part of exchanging opinions about performances feels European culture.

Fukuda: When sensei was angry with the next student, "Why didn't you practice?", That student said, "I didn't have time for this this week." I think it's overkill, but I think the students are on an equal footing and have their own identity in both good and bad ways.
-It's great to have a solid identity.On the contrary, could you tell me the bad points?

Fukuda: I don't think there is anything wrong with studying in the pure sense of studying, but of course studying itself is a good thing.However, in terms of life, it may be difficult at first.Various documents are required for visa procedures, etc., the office work is very slow at the procedure window, it is completely closed on Saturdays and Sundays, there are many vacations, so the procedure does not proceed easily, or when there is a problem in the apartment I think there are places where people don't come right away or things don't go well.When I think about it now, I realized that Japan was so easy to live in that it was wonderful.
-Did you have a hard time with this when you started studying abroad?

Fukuda: That's right.First of all, I had to do everything myself from finding an apartment, so I thought that I had to be strong and do my best to negotiate.
-What is the most important thing about studying abroad in France?

Fukuda: I think it's important to have a clear reason for yourself.As for why France, even if you choose sensei, it may or may not be compatible depending on the person, and I think that the color of each country is different, but why do you want to go there and why did you choose it? I think it is important to have a clear purpose.In my case, I was interested in the study content of the French piano accompaniment department, so when I studied abroad at that time, there was no accompaniment department in Japan yet, but for example, studying accompaniment in France and France The curriculum is completely different from studying accompaniment, so I was interested in the French curriculum, and the original study was similar to that, so I decided to go to France. I didn't think about it, but I thought I'd just take it, so I narrowed it down to Paris and Lyon, but in Paris I was over the age limit, so I couldn't take it and decided to go to Lyon.
-Are there any advantages or disadvantages for Japanese people when working overseas, especially in Europe?

Fukuda: I don't think nationality has anything to do with playing as a profession.I think it's pay for performance.You can make a lot of friends, be careful about the relationships around you, and the basic things, such as keeping time, keeping promises, and being able to do the work you were told to do at that time. I think it is also important.The advantage of Japanese people is that they are basically serious and solid, so I think they are often trusted.The disadvantage is that this is a personal story, but since the Lyon Regional Conservatory is a public conservatory, I have been working since around 2009, but at first it is treated as a part-time job and it is a proper full-time job. When I wanted a post, I couldn't help but wonder if I was a little hesitant to officially hire me at first.However, after working part-time for a long time, I decided to compete with the quality of my work and told myself that I would be a better accompaniment pianist than anyone else around me.Over time, I was able to get more and more evaluations, and with the support of multiple professors, I was finally able to get a formal post.Of course, recruitment was open to the public, and I took the exam properly!
-The point that I realized that I wanted to compete with the quality of work was a very positive idea, and I thought that I had a straightforward perspective.

Fukuda: Fortunately, the professors I work with there made me feel good, and thanks to those around me, some professors talked directly to the school and used me. He talked to me so that he could get it.
-It is wonderful.The next question is, what is music for you?

Fukuda: It's my life.Because of that, I feel like I can live, and when I'm at home, I'm usually busy with housework, childcare, and everyday life, but send my child to school and go to work. For example, I have to switch my head to music mode immediately, so it's completely different from the home mode, so it's difficult, but it's the vitality of my life, or I think I can't live without it.
-I grew up surrounded by music from the time I was born, and I thought it was a very convincing word.

Fukuda: Both the students and I are going to work very hard, so I think I'll do my best with the young children who are doing their best, and I'll do my best every day.
-Thank you.Can you tell us your musical dreams for the future?

Fukuda: I've been fluttering all the time, but if I have a little more time, I'd like to introduce the work of the professors I'm working with.I am vaguely hoping that something can be done in Japan as well.
-What are the secrets and conditions for success as a professional musician in Europe?

Fukuda: I think it's quite difficult, but anyway, at first I had more connections with people, so I think it's important to make a lot of local friends.I don't know where the connection starts, so I think that's the first step.Especially since I played the piano accompaniment, I like socializing, and I think it's important to meet various people and be open to myself. I think it is important to build a relationship of trust by working responsibly and properly when asked to do it once.Also, I would like to tell the students that it is another difficulty to take an entrance examination for an orchestra, for example, and a lot of excellent people come to take the examination in only one seat. It's the same in Japan, but it's hard to get in, so whether you can prepare to take the first place there, whether it's playing or mental, you really need to be very careful and perfect yourself. I think it is very important to be able to analyze calmly and move forward.I think it's very difficult to have to show your maximum power there because there is only the actual performance.I think it's about knowing yourself well, analyzing what type of person you are, and whether you can bring it there.After all, all human beings are human beings, and they are not perfect.But sadly, music has to be as close to perfection as possible in terms of technology, such as competitions and auditions, so I think it's about how much we can prepare in detail there.
-The last question is, I would like to ask readers who are thinking of studying abroad or wanting to study abroad for advice.

Fukuda: The road to music is difficult, so I think you should be prepared.I think that each person has a different purpose, so I think it's important to have a strong desire to continue with that purpose, to like music, and to have the intention to accomplish it. increase.The period of study abroad and the period of being a student are very short, so I have a clear vision of what I want to study during that period and what I want to do first, so I will not waste time for that. I want you to study at.Of course, it is important to practice yourself while studying abroad because there are many stimuli from those around you, but it is a round trip between your room and sensei lessons that you stay in your room and do not go outside. I think it's a good idea to closely observe what the students around you are doing, what you are studying, and what kind of performance you are playing.Personally, I learned a lot in the lesson, but I had a lot of friends with excellent performers like monsters around me, and I got a lot of stimulation from them, so that's very much. I think it's important.I think you should think about what you should do in that.
-It was very helpful to talk about going abroad, having clear goals and working hard to realize your dreams while meeting various people.Thank you for telling us a valuable story today.

Fukuda: Thank you.
Go back