Chie Akasaka-SCHAUPP / Violin solo, Bruckner Orchester Linz / Linz, Austria

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.We would like to interview the guest, Akasaka-SCHAUPP Kang Ji-young, who is active in the Austrian Linz Bruckner Orchestra. I would like to talk about the theme of "studying abroad in music."
(Interview: March 2009)


Akasaka-SCHAUPP Tomohide
Started playing the violin at the age of four.Graduated from the Faculty of Music, Toho Gakuen University, and performed at a graduation concert.Graduated from the German National University of Music in Detmold with the highest score (1,0).Upon graduation, he passed the second violin of the Linz Bruckner Orchestra and joined the group.The following year, he enrolled in the postgradual of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and finished with the best "Sehr gut".In the same year, he passed the first violin of the Linz Bruckner Orchestra.In XNUMX, he became the first violinist of the orchestra.He has studied violin under Midori Yamaoka, Isako Shinozaki, Thomas Christian, Geza Hargitai, Klaus Metzell and others, and chamber music under Johannes Maisle, Artemis Q, Bartok Q and others.In recent years, he has been selected as a new violinist, co-starring with his own orchestra, and forming a string quartet including members of the orchestra.He is also actively involved in performance activities and planning, mainly in Vienna and Linz.


Akasaka I started playing the violin at the age of four.I graduated from the Faculty of Music at Toho Gakuen College and obtained a diploma from the National University of Music in Detmold in Germany.Upon graduation, I passed the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the Second Violin and joined the group. The following year, I entered the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and was enrolled for one year.In the same year, he passed the Bruckner Orchestra Linz First Violin.Furthermore, since 4, he has been appointed as the first violinist of the orchestra.

My brother Akasaka was playing the violin, and at that time he was taken to his brother's lesson, and the lessons I saw there seemed to be very enjoyable.And I said to my mother, "I want to do that!", But I wasn't serious about it and it was ignored (laughs).The next week, I made a direct decision to let sensei do it (laughs).

Akasaka That's right.

Akasaka No, not at all.When my mother was small, she seemed to have longed for a violin, and she just wanted her child to do it.However, my brother is a boy, so I immediately became interested in something else and quit.

Akasaka At that time, the entrance to music was classical, so it felt like "music = classical".After I grew up, I listened to pop music and jazz, but the basics were classical.

Akasaka Well, I took lessons regularly from the age of 4 to junior high school students.But my parents objected to going on the musical path.It would be a lot of work to go on the musical path.So I gave up on music high school and went to regular high school.Because I was studying for the exam, I took a break from the lesson.

Akasaka Actually, I went to a high school, but after all, the university persuaded my parents to play music and entered Toho.However, there are many people who have been studying specialized music since they were little, so I was shocked by the culture and lost my confidence.With this, I thought it would be impossible to go professional.So, I think it was around the time I decided to study abroad that I actually decided to do it professionally.

While I was in Akasaka University, I was doing chamber music with my friends and had the opportunity to take a master class in Germany.Then, I was shocked that I was a frog in the well, and I started to want to study abroad.At that time, I met Detmold and sensei, who is taught in Vienna, and asked me if I should study at my place.You will be taught in Vienna or Detmold, but where was Detmold at that time?I was like (laughs), so when I asked him to go to Vienna, he said, "Since there are many Japanese people in Vienna, people like you should concentrate on studying in an environment with few Japanese people. Isn't it? "As a result, that was a hit, and I was grateful.

Akasaka After all, one thing that gave me great confidence was that I was selected for the graduation concert.Three people were selected from about 30 members of the violin department, and I entered that.At that time, I hadn't taken any competitions, so I didn't know how good I was.

Akasaka It was a dream story.I wish I could become a professional.I wasn't confident. I had the experience of playing as an extra for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it's a fairly high-level orchestra, and I couldn't think of myself being able to do it all the time.So, when I went abroad and tried to expand the world, the overseas one suits my skin better. In two and a half years, I didn't want to go home, I started to want to work here.

Akasaka I think it's because I was born and raised near Tokyo, but the flow of time is very slow in Europe as a whole.Also, in my normal life, the atmosphere that music is close to me naturally fits in well.

Akasaka Detmold was a city like a music college, so there were many students and there was a concert.However, since the famous orchestra does not come, it was like going to a big city nearby for concerts.
 
Bruckner Orchestra Linz

Akasaka It was very inspiring to meet musicians from various countries that I had never met in Japan.

There was Akasaka, at first.I don't have any friends, the food is different, I want to be homesick and go back to Japan!... so I thought.

Akasaka I only studied in Japan for about two months, so it was very difficult.If you are going to go, I think you should study the language before you go.

Akasaka It wasn't when I entered school.It seems that there is now.

Akasaka About a year and a half after studying abroad, I started thinking about taking on a challenge here, so I consulted with sensei. sensei pushed me back, saying, "Challenge yourself. Once you get home, you'll lose the chance to come back."There is an orchestra recruitment advertisement in a specialized magazine, so I saw it and applied for a second violin recruitment.But in Europe, I had to get an invitation to audition, which I couldn't quite get.
(Editor's Note: Some countries in Europe do not require an invitation.)
 
Akasaka in Genepro

Akasaka Yes.You have to have the standard of experience working in a local orchestra.So I'm not a professional, but I had a youth orchestra, so I first tried it.It will be a big standard.Fortunately, about 100 out of 10 successful candidates were given the opportunity to perform in Germany and abroad.As I had that kind of experience, I started getting invitations little by little.However, the invitation was only for extras and training auditions.I definitely wanted to go to Europe, so I consulted with sensei, and although the country will change, I found a vacancy for a full-time member of the Linz orchestra, where sensei was born, and applied. is.

Speaking of the Akasaka joining audition, the theme song of the orchestra study is different.Of course, it depends on the orchestra, but in Germany, the first orchestra study is usually the first or the second.In Austria, if it's the second, there will be a second study.So I hurried to study it again.And it's not a national difference, but Bruckner's orchestra wasn't a romantic concerto, which is usually the subject, but Bach's solo sonata was the subject, so Bach hurriedly re-studied.

Akasaka 1st qualifying was the curtain examination. There were 45 people, and 1 people passed the first qualifying round. There were 8 people in the 2nd pass, and 4 people continued until the 4th examination.

Akasaka That's right.

Akasaka When I received it, there were some Japanese people.They were people studying in Austria.After all, there were many people in Germany as well.Overall, there were many Europeans.

Akasaka One thing is that you were selfless.I didn't think I would never accept it, or I was thinking of trying my strength, so I think I wasn't able to do it well.I was nervous, but it was a challenge.How is my Mozart evaluated?

Akasaka After all, I enjoyed the music very much while saying that I was selfless.I auditioned three times in all, but the first audition was the most enjoyable.

It was after the 4th qualifying round in Akasaka.How long can you start working after being called one by one?It was about that.

Akasaka After all I was happy.Now you can work professionally in Europe!The joy of saying that was great.

Akasaka Yes, it's been six months to a year.

Akasaka At first, I had a complex in playing Western music as a foreigner.However, everyone's image of Japanese people and how they interacted with them were different in a good way.It wasn't a negative image of being an oriental person, but rather, it was highly evaluated, such as "Japanese people work properly."

Akasaka It wouldn't be there now.Of course, the Vienna Philharmonic must be an Austrian man or an Austrian music educator in order to preserve the Austrian tradition.Other than that, there are many curtains in the first qualifying, and it is pay for performance.Being Japanese does not mean that you will be at a disadvantage.Rather, if the scores are the same, it may be surprising that Japanese people get a positive evaluation that they work properly.

I learned as a principal player in Akasaka, but I should dare to go my own way.Japanese people tend to care about their surroundings, but doing so will ruin them.In a good way, I think it's important to establish your own music, what you do, at your own pace.

Akasaka First of all, it's your responsibility to lead everyone on behalf of the concertmaster.Also, there are occasions when I have to give an opinion to the conductor on behalf of the members, so language has become more important.To put it in more detail, there are various things such as having to move a little and pulling it, or being unable to go to work without preparation.

Akasaka I have come to want to expand the world more than before.Since I work in Austria as a Japanese, I have come to want to play something that connects Japan and Austria.I never thought about it before.

Akasaka Yes.It's not a regular course, but a course that you can attend while working.I had been studying in Germany until then, so I wanted to study the air in Vienna, so I went there for a year.

Akasaka It's only a lesson, but there were times when I couldn't go at all for a month because of my work.At that time, I go every week in the next month.The change was flexible. sensei also understood.

Akasaka It's not much different from music, but the national character is quite different.The Germans are more like Japanese, and I feel that they are serious or tingling.Austrians feel more peaceful and calm.

Akasaka I'm better suited to Austrians.
 
Linz

Akasaka It was selected as an arts and culture city in 2009, and it is lively in terms of art.The city itself is small.The air flow is slow and it is a very nice environment.

Before Akasaka, I had a lesson for those who attended here, but compared to Vienna, the number of students is absolutely smaller, so in that sense, I didn't feel like I was working hard. I wonder.

Akasaka That's right.It seems to be awkward, but if there is a vacancy in the concertmaster's seat, I would like to try it while I am motivated.

Akasaka: Unlike playing alone, the feeling of "creating one thing together" is a joy.It's a feeling of going toward the same goal.

Akasaka For me, it's like a soul cry that I can express as I feel.And on the other hand, it's like medicine.Even when I'm having a hard time mentally, I've been able to recover from the music, and it's also a tool that can express joy.Half of my life is music, so if I take music from me, nothing will happen.

Akasaka: I'd like you to tell me the secret, if any ... (laughs).Is it a feeling of not giving up?Your dreams will definitely come true!I think that those who keep thinking strongly will succeed.Also, from the standpoint of judging by audition, music requires a delicate sensibility, but on the other hand, it must be someone who has an absolutely strong nerve.It's unfortunately difficult for a professional to practice at home and be good at it, but if you can't play at an audition or a concert.Therefore, I need a thick nerve.Otherwise, I'll get sick when I go abroad (laughs).

Akasaka Of course, that is also the case, and I think that it can be nurtured by consciously going our way without worrying about the surroundings.

Akasaka Goals are not vague and need to have clear goals.Have both near and far goals.Also, language is important for going abroad, isn't it?It is advantageous to be able to speak English, but German is a common language in the world of music.I think it will be fun to study other than English.

Akasaka It's about making friends quickly.I went to a language school, but more than that, I often learn it while chatting.

Akasaka It has gradually become easier for me to live normally, but in the end, I think I have improved a lot since I started working.It's still a long way off ... (laughs)

Akasaka If you don't speak a proper language, you'll be fooled.Also, while working as a foreigner, it is important to relax to some extent, or to switch.I wasn't very good at it at first, and when I failed, I dragged it.However, if you do that, you will get sick.Also, I needed to come back to Japan once in a while and spend time with my family as a way to replenish my energy.

Akasaka As a Japanese person, I would like to hear more from Japanese people, such as Vienna Waltz, when I go to Austria.I would like to be involved in planning, composition, and performance, and to be able to do it in both Japan and Austria.

The Akasaka Orchestra will have a tour of Japan in a couple of years, but I haven't realized it yet.