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 will interview the guest, Yasuhito Watanabe, who is active as a pianist at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. I would like to talk about the theme of "studying abroad in music."
(Interview: March 2009)
-Profile of Yasuto Watanabe-
Yasuto Watanabe
Completed the piano major in the Department of Music, Nihon University College of Art and the master's course at the same graduate school.Received the Dean of the Faculty of Arts Award and performed at the Yomiuri Rookie Concert.While attending the same graduate school, he went to Europe as an overseas scholarship student at the Nihon University Graduate School and completed the first diploma course at the Piano Performance Department of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.After that, he enrolled in the piano performance department of the Salzburg Mozartium National College of Music after completing a research course at the National College of Music in Munich.Including the 6nd prize in the 2th Morcone International Piano Competition (Italy), he has won many prizes in domestic and international competitions and auditions.Currently living in Vienna, he is performing not only as a soloist but also as a pianist for the piano trio "Wertheimstein Trio Vienna" and "Salon Orchestra Alt Vienna".Currently, he is a pianist at the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera and a piano lecturer at the Vienna State Opera.
-First of all, please tell us about Watanabe's background.
Watanabe After studying at Nihon University College of Art, Department of Music, Piano major, I studied in Japan until the master's course at the same graduate school.Then, while attending graduate school, he was selected for the overseas dispatch scholarship system of the Nihon University graduate school, and after moving to Austria, which he had longed for, he entered the piano performance department of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (the system is slightly different from now). Did.After getting my first diploma here, I went on to study at the National University of Music in Munich, Germany.After completing the research process, I returned to Austria and enrolled in the Mozartium National College of Music in Salzburg.After that, I started working and I am still working.
-What made you start playing the piano?
Watanabe: The influence of my parents was great.My dad just loved the jazz piano.It seems that the born child had a dream that he absolutely wanted to play the piano.And I became the target as much as I could (laughs).
-Does your father also play the piano?
Watanabe: No, I don't play musical instruments, but I have a lot of CDs and records, and I always listen to music.
-So, jazz has been playing all over the house since I was little.
Watanabe: Of course, classical music such as Mozart and Chopin was also played, and looking back on the kindergarten and elementary school days, I think that music was always playing at home.My father had a big influence, but I think that my mother was doing ballet sensei.However, looking at my appearance and body shape when I was born, it seems that I didn't try to go that way from the beginning, saying, "Ballet is not suitable for this child" (laughs).
-How old were you when you started playing the piano?
Watanabe: I think I was about three and a half years old.I was still in kindergarten.
-I think that many people who go on to music college aspire to be musicians, but when did you become conscious of living on the path of music?
Watanabe: When I think about it now, it's been since I was very young.It was vague, but I wanted to be a sensei who teaches the piano.I've always had the desire to live with the piano, or to be involved in the piano somewhere.
-Did your father tell you to play jazz?
Watanabe No, I wasn't told.First of all, I felt that I should study classical music and do it when I feel like it.Anyway, I was dealing with me with the attitude that I should do my best in the given practice.
-You have been studying abroad for 6 years until the master's course at a Japanese university, and you have decided to study abroad under the dispatch system. Have you ever considered studying abroad at all?
Watanabe I had a longing for it.When I was in my fourth year at university, Toyoaki Matsuura sensei was transferred from Tokyo University of the Arts to the Graduate School of Nihon University.I was still an undergraduate student, but I was asked to join sensei a little earlier.Matsuura sensei was famous for his busy sensei when he was a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, but when I was taught, there were few students in charge, so he was very kind to me.When I felt like it, I often called and asked, "Why don't you come for a cup of tea on the weekend?" The wife of sensei baked the cake, and all of us students visited sensei's house once a month.At that time, he listened to the records of old sound sources collected by sensei, and showed me the items from the time when I was studying abroad in Germany a long time ago.The program and sheet music of the concert at that time.Also, because sensei's wife was studying abroad in Germany at the same time, she made tea sweets using the recipe taught in Germany at that time.So, even though I was in Tokyo, the atmosphere of Europe was floating in sensei's house, and from that time on, I was very much admired for such a situation. I had a strong feeling, "I definitely want to go to a German-speaking country!"So when I was selected as a dispatched scholarship student, I felt that my dream had come true.
St. Stephen's Cathedral
-Did you have any experience of studying abroad in Europe for a short period before studying abroad?
Watanabe: Before and after applying for a dispatched scholarship student, I don't know if I will accept it, but I thought it was necessary to make a preliminary inspection.So, I looked around Germany and Austria from south to north.At first, I entered from my longing Vienna.Travel is a trip, but for me it was a complete "preliminary inspection".
-Did you think that Vienna is the best place to go?
Watanabe: I had a longing for it from the beginning, but I actually thought so with my own eyes.Compared to other cities, my intuition was different the moment I arrived in Vienna.Looking back, I had a strong impression that "Oh, I'm studying here!"I was almost convinced.When I was selected as a dispatched scholarship student, I decided to study abroad in Vienna without hesitation.
-Does the graduate school choose sensei to study at the study abroad destination as a system for dispatched scholarship students?
Watanabe: No, in this system, you have to decide the school and sensei to study abroad by yourself.At the time of application, I had to make contact, so I also previewed that contact.Sensei, who decided to study in Vienna, was one of the people introduced by relying on the professors and sensei who he knew.
-So, did you have any other sensei that you contacted?
Watanabe Yes.But after all, I had a strong feeling that I was studying in Vienna, so I chose sensei at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Wiener Musikverein Large Hall
-Are there any differences between your image of Vienna before you traveled and your impression after you actually went there?
Watanabe After all, the image of Vienna before traveling was superficial as a "city of gorgeous music" seen on TV.When I actually went there, I realized that it wasn't just the glamorous part, as I became aware of the security issues and the problems that the city itself had.It was a shock, but it also led to a desire to know more about Vienna.
-By the way, what did you mean by being shocked?
Watanabe First of all, there are many immigrants.Austria is now a small country, but before the war it was a very large country, with a background of accepting a large labor force at the cost of losing the war.Most of the people are from the east, such as Turkey and the former Yugoslavians, but at first I thought, "Is this Turkey !?" (laughs), which was a big shock to me.Well, in the end, all of that came together and I started to think it was Vienna.
-Surely, Japanese people don't have that kind of image for Vienna.
Watanabe: You don't.That's the image of a gorgeous hall and all the ladies and gentlemen dressed up in dresses, as you can see in the New Year's Concert video.But in fact, those people are just a few ...
-In fact, have you ever been shocked by the differences in the way you study in Japan when you study in Vienna?
Watanabe: What shocked me when I started studying in Vienna was that I ended up studying "expressing."I was shocked by the attitude of European students, "How far can I express the work with my own narrative?"In Japan, the focus was on the theoretical work of reading music from sheet music and learning technical things.However, in Vienna, it was important to study with a spontaneous fantasy, such as "I have to play with this kind of tone" or "I have to play with this kind of image", so I was a little confused about that part.
Vienna cafe
-How about your life, did you have any culture shock?
Watanabe Most of the shops are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, so I thought it was a very relaxing life.There were many people in Tokyo, and I was studying the piano in a hurry, but suddenly I felt like I was placed in a big space.It wasn't a feeling of emptiness, but a cozy feeling.
-Did you take the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna yourself?
Watanabe: Actually, the system for overseas dispatch scholarship students was only for one year.Even though I am a foreign student dispatched from a graduate school, I am not a regular student, so I was allowed to enter and leave the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna by relying on the sensei I studied.So I could only observe lessons and lessons.So, sensei said, "If you want to stay in Vienna in the future, why don't you take the exam officially?"I immediately confirmed with Nihon University and said that it was okay to take the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna because I was on leave of absence, so I actually took the exam during the period of dispatched international students (laughs). ).
-Huh! ??Was it okay?
Watanabe Yes.There was no problem because I was on leave of absence, and I had completed all the completion performance tests and master's thesis, and was traveling just to attend the graduation ceremony.That's why I took the exam three months after I was dispatched.However, the class started in earnest three months later.So, I spent the first six months listening to lessons and classes, and six months later I started studying as a formal student.
-By the way, were you studying German in Japan?
Watanabe After I was selected as a dispatched scholarship student, I went to a German language school in Tokyo for a month to study.However, I was fluttering with my master's thesis and preparations for travel, so other than that, I was just flipping through reference books.
-So, did you start studying in earnest after you went to the site?
Watanabe Yes.For the time being, I had a German class for two years at a Japanese university, but it was about the same as the German school in Tokyo that I went to for a month.In earnest, I feel like I started studying after I went to Vienna.When I think about it now, the content of studying German in Japan was only about one week in Vienna (laughs).
-Really!Then, did you have a lot of trouble?
Watanabe Yes.When I was just studying abroad, the conversations of people who went to town seemed to be only space language (laughs).
-The lessons are, of course, in German.
Watanabe That's right.Wazzinger sensei, who I was studying in Vienna, was strict about language and had a policy of "master German as soon as possible".So even for students who didn't understand German at all, I never spoke in English.However, music can be understood because the term is Italian and sensei shows a sample next to it.So, to be honest, I didn't have much trouble with the lessons.
Master class accompaniment
-After all, how many years have you been at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna?
Watanabe It's been 3 years.
-You went to Munich after you graduated, didn't you?
Watanabe: At the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, I was actually starting to go on to the previous course, but I was planning to study abroad for one year, but at this point it was three years, so I said, "It's not that long in the future. I want to meet another sensei in another environment. "So I took the exam again and entered the Kunitachi College of Music in Munich.After all, I moved to Kunitachi College of Music at Mozartium with the same feeling.
-What made you choose Munich?
Watanabe: I was interested in Germany, which is another country in the same German-speaking country, and because it is in the south of Germany, it was close to Austria.Thanks to that sense of distance, I went to Munich to listen to lessons even before I graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
-Did you go to Munich after you decided on sensei?
Watanabe Watzinger sensei also really helped me a lot.It was also Wazzinger sensei who recommended the sensei of Munich University of Music.
-Are there any musical differences between Germany and Austria?
Watanabe: I think it has an influence on the national character, but Germany is a style that emphasizes constructiveness.As I said before, Austria focused on expressing and playing in its own way through the medium of its own, so there was a difference.
-Is there a difference in livability?
Watanabe: In terms of prices, the high and low prices were different, so there wasn't much difference in total, but the decisive difference was the housing environment.
-It seems that taxes are high.
Watanabe Munich was difficult to find due to the high rent of the apartment.On average, if you paid the rent for Munich in Vienna, you could live in a room that was twice or three times as large as a room in Munich.In terms of living environment, Vienna was definitely better.
-Did you not enter the dormitory?
Watanabe: No, I've always lived in an apartment in every city.
-Are there any differences in communication between Germany and Austria?
Watanabe: At first, Germans seem to be farther apart, but once they get to know each other, they feel warmer and able to interact with each other.I feel that Austria is much rougher than that.
-Austria feels more Latin, but ...?
Watanabe: The country is in contact with Italy.Simply put, it may be the Austrian temperament that divides the Germans and Italians by two.
-So that's it!After living in Munich, you will return to Austria and enroll in Kunitachi College of Music. What made you think, "Let's go back to Austria, let's go to Salzburg"?
Watanabe: It was really strange, but the feelings I had in Vienna at the beginning were still in my feelings even after I went to Munich.If I can still study in the future, I would like to study in Austria.Also, I was convinced that studying in Austria was more suitable for me than in Germany, so I decided to return to Austria.
――Did you ever think of going back to Japan?
Watanabe Yes, I thought.Actually, from around this time, I had been studying with a view to finding a job, but I didn't have a decisive decision like this, so I took the form of continuing my studies.
Strauss II
-Are there any major differences between Vienna and Salzburg?
Watanabe The decisive difference is that there are few concerts during the season in Salzburg.There is a famous Salzburg music festival, but it's only for summer.There wasn't a big opera house like Vienna, and there wasn't a big hall like the Musikverein, so it was a big thing that I didn't have a chance to go to the concert.
-That's big.After all, is Vienna the best in terms of watching authentic music?
Watanabe Yes.But Munich was also very good.There were many performances every day at the Bavarian State Opera and the Gastike Hall.
-So you graduated from Mozartium ...?
Watanabe: Actually, before I graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, I started to see my work, so I left without taking a diploma.
-What is your job?
Watanabe At first, I was wondering whether to return to Japan and continue looking for a job, or to get a small job in Vienna, which I was asked to do.So, once in Japan, I spent several months doing concerts to make a break.In the end, in the last few months, I decided to do the work I was told about in Vienna.
-Please tell us the decisive reason why you decided to work in Vienna.
Watanabe: When I went to Kunitachi College of Music, I had been studying abroad for a long time, so I vaguely felt that I might be able to do a fulfilling job in Austria, which I was accustomed to.I decided to take the plunge and try to be honest with that feeling.
――What kind of work was your first job?
Watanabe At first, it was sensei, the music of a local high school.There was also a private piano lesson, but since it was a Catholic school, there was a mass every week, so there was a chorus lesson with the same weight as the piano.It was my duty to witness and guide this.
-How did you find this job?
Watanabe: When I was a student, I played many times at this high school mass.At that time, the pipe organ of the chapel was broken, so I played the organ part with the keyboard (laughs).With that kind of connection, when there was a vacancy, I was asked, "Why don't you try it?"This offer was fascinating and I decided to return to Austria during the months I was performing in Japan.
-What was it like to actually teach music to students?
Watanabe At first, I was worried that I would work for myself.Besides, I'm not a Catholic person, so I had to study the flow of mass and the basics.However, since my partner was a high school student, he treated me with the friendliness peculiar to that age, and soon I was able to enjoy myself without any anxiety.
Schoenbrunn Palace
-How long have you been doing this job?
Watanabe: Actually, I had to quit in less than a year because of the work I got later.Music lessons weren't really enough for my job.I started thinking that I had to find a big job, and while I was in the office, I sent my resume to various places and applied for auditions.That is the number 1-XNUMX.It was like applying for anything related to the piano.I was working in my spare time.
-Is it difficult for Japanese people to get a job locally?
Watanabe Yes.Most non-university music schools are listed as "Austrian or EU nationals" in the recruitment exam criteria.For example, if you are a Japanese married to a local person, it is still quite difficult, but you may barely be able to sneak in.It was very difficult because I was caught in the first recruitment criteria just because I was Japanese.I was advised by a friend that I should send more and more resumes, so I did so.
-Under such circumstances, you managed to get the next job.
Watanabe Yes, but it wasn't easy.When I took the employment examination for the local Conservatoire, I passed the final selection, but the examiner said, "If you live in Vienna, but you have a job with such a short time frame, Isn't it not suitable for the place where you live? ", And the person who had the next grade of mine was hired.This person was an Austrian who lived in the city.After many times of such sad and regrettable feelings, I gradually realized that it was easier to find a sense of distance that "I can work immediately from tomorrow."For example, I applied for a university or theater in Germany, but I received many replies, "You seem to live in Vienna, but are you willing to move here?"After all, when I started thinking that I had to search hard in and around Vienna, one day suddenly my cell phone rang in the city.It was from the Vienna State Opera, which I thought was a dream again! "I saw your resume, but tomorrow I'll be testing the accompaniment for the ballet school, so please come in the afternoon."I had entered the recruitment exam, but I was informed.
Opera Ball
-It's a sudden call!
Watanabe: It's not possible in Japan (laughs).For me, my mother is a sensei of ballet, and my sister is also dancing, so I applied for ballet just because I was familiar with it.That's why I hesitated for a moment.I thought it would be impossible to receive it.However, I went to take the exam, inspiring myself, "I can't go, don't say that!"After the recruitment test, we have reached the present.
-It's amazing!What was the content of the recruitment exam?
Watanabe: I was asked to accompany the piano for XNUMX minutes of ballet training class, and I played it on the spot.Ballet accompaniment isn't taught at music colleges, and I don't think most pianists know how to do it.It happened that my family was doing ballet and had experience with accompaniment.Until then, I had the feeling that I was working in a completely different field from my mother and sister, but thanks to this environment in which I grew up, I think I managed to complete it for XNUMX minutes.
-Are you with other applicants?
Watanabe: I was the only one who took the exam, but it seems that the exam was being held on another day.Some people retired, so it was a recruitment test to fill the vacancy.
-Did you only play the exam once and did not have an interview with the officer in particular?
I had an interview with Director Watanabe.As I learned later, during the exam, it seems that the opera officials, ballet school trainers, and other pianists were judging my alternate performances.Then, the director asked me, "Why don't you try it when another pianist is sick?"
-Did you already have a talk on the spot! ??
Watanabe Yes.I had you say it on the spot.I was the director of the ballet school at the Vienna State Opera, but I started talking about the details of my work on the spot, so I thought it would be okay to take this positively.
-That's really amazing!It's hard for Japanese people to get such a job.
Watanabe No, no.I really think that luck and timing are great.
-How long after that, did you start the job?
Watanabe: Immediately, I started getting calls all the time.Every time a ballet school pianist was sick, I was contacted.However, when I opened the lid, the person who was supposed to retire was in office for almost two years after that, so that period was part-time.I officially became a full-time pianist from last September.
-Really.By the way, did you get a work visa without any problems?
Watanabe: Fortunately, I work at the Vienna State Opera, so from the time I was working part-time, the National Opera House issued the necessary documents such as a work permit.On the contrary, if you hire a foreigner without issuing a work permit, problems will arise on the employer side.So, about a month after I started working part-time, it was mailed to me immediately.In fact, I was surprised to hear "So fast !?"I was really happy about that.And as soon as I submitted these documents, my visa was given.
Ballet trainee class
-How often did you work a week?
Watanabe: When I was part-time, it was different.There were weeks when I had no work, and when I had sick leave, I had XNUMX days at a stretch.I received a phone call even when the full-time pianist couldn't afford to rehearse various performances or when the timetable changed due to the ballet school's circumstances.
-What is it like now?
Watanabe: Now that I have a class, it's every Monday to Friday.Sometimes there are weekends too.
-Is there anything you are careful about playing as an accompaniment rather than a solo?
Watanabe: Since I was in Japan, I've always liked vocal and instrumental accompaniment, so I was willing to study.However, the ballet accompaniment is special ...What you should be careful about is the tempo and the intonation of the rhythm.For example, if you play a lot when jumping, it will become heavy and you will not be able to fly, and since there are individual differences in body size, the speed of rotation will also differ from person to person.That's why I'm careful about the time signature and the beat, such as the weight and lightness, where to add accents, where to make it smooth, and where to make it crisp.
-It's a small job, isn't it?Where do you find this job worthwhile?
Watanabe After all, the profession of ballet pianist must become something like a jukebox. If you are told, "Play something in line with this kind of movement," you have to play that way.But when I see the dancers taking lessons happily to their piano, I'm happy to say, "Oh, I'm having so much fun with my music." ..I find it rewarding.
-I think there are many Japanese people like Watanabe who want to work abroad. Do you have any tips for finding a job?
Watanabe: I have a bigger dream than I think, "I can only do this much," and continue to play my instrument so as not to lose the energy to approach it. I wonder if it's going to go.
-Finally, the most difficult question (laughs).What does classical music and music mean to you, Watanabe?
Watanabe: (laughs).After all, I am the person I am, but can I become various people through music?Dignified humans, sad humans, romantic humans, comical humans ...I think it's attractive that I can be a variety of actors through the expression of music.
-If you have any advice, such as "You should do this," if you want to play an active role overseas, please let us know.
Watanabe: I think that everyone who works overseas is the first to open, but I think words are the most important.The next most important thing after words is communication.It is strange to make an effort to improve communication, but even in the world of music, it is a connection between people after all, so I think it is necessary to make communication efforts that transcend language barriers.
Vienna State Opera
-Japanese people tend to withdraw.You can't be positive.
Watanabe: I think there are many advantages that can be utilized as a Japanese person.I wondered if I could make use of it and make myself more familiar with the surroundings.It would be best if I could enjoy everything.
-What are the specific strengths that you can utilize as a Japanese person?
Watanabe: A neat place ...That's what I say (laughs).The Japanese have the image of being neat.It's about promises and politeness, isn't it?Taking advantage of such things, we talked to them a little more aggressively than when we were in Japan, and greeted them.Communication expands with a little care, so I wonder if I should make an effort there.
-Lastly, please tell us your dreams and goals as a musician.
Watanabe For the time being, I would like to gain experience as a ballet pianist so that I can enjoy the current situation even more.At the same time, I would like to expand the repertoire of solo piano studies, chamber music, and other ensembles that I have accumulated so far.
-I wish you all the best.Thank you very much for your busy schedule today!
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