Mari Parz-Fukunaga / Violin, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra / Zurich

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 would like to interview Mari Fukunaga, who is active in Zurich, as a guest. I would like to talk about the theme of "studying abroad in music."
(Interview: March 2011)


After graduating from the music department of Soai High School, he graduated from the music department of Soai University at the top and went to Europe.
Received a scholarship from the Yasuda Life Quality of Life Cultural Foundation and the CMZiehrer Foundation, studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and obtained the best diploma.
He has received numerous awards, including the highest award at the Austrian International Chamber Music Festival and the first prize at the 10th Johannes Brahms International Competition.
Take master classes such as W. Hink, T. Brandis, and Z. Bron.
Studied under Reiko Morita and R. Randacher.
While still a student, he was a concertmaster of Floregium Musicum Vienna and was enrolled in the Vienna Chamber Philharmonic.After working for the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, he is currently a member of the Tonhalle-Orchestra in Zurich.
Vienna Thomastic Infeld, a violinist with a string development project contract.Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra fiddler.

 
Fukunaga I went to Soai High School Music Department in Osaka, and then to Soai University, but when I graduated from university, I studied abroad at the Music University in Vienna.
 

 
Fukunaga At first, I came to Vienna with the intention of studying abroad for about two years, but the more I was there, the less I wanted to go home, so I started thinking about getting a job in Vienna.While I was a student at Tokyo College of Music, I played at the Vienna Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, but eventually I joined the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna.
 

 
Fukunaga Since I was in Vienna, the Swiss Tonhalle-Orchestra has been my favorite orchestra, so if I had a chance, I had an audition, so I was lucky enough to get in. rice field.That's why I moved from Vienna.
 
 
Tonhalle-Orchestra

 
Fukunaga: It's international, there are a lot of people, and Switzerland itself is a fairly global country.Various personalities are gathered in the performance ... (laughs).Perhaps because of that, I think it's an orchestra that is open and free, with a supple sound.
 

 
Fukunaga Yes.There are quite a few. I think there are about XNUMX Japanese people.I think there are few orchestras with so many Japanese people.
 

 
Fukunaga Yes.I think Swiss are about one-third.
 

 
Fukunaga Yes.The door is wide, Swiss and Japanese audition under the same conditions, and nationalities are not related at all, so more and more wonderful musicians come from abroad.The official language is German for the time being, but various languages ​​are flying around, and the performances are also exuding national characteristics ... It's a lot of fun.
 

 
Fukunaga Both of my parents were amateur violinists, and when I was absent, my father and mother would take a violin and go to practice an amateur orchestra nearby, so it seems like it's normal to learn the violin. I think everyone is playing the violin (laughs).My parents' friends are all amateur-related people, and it seems that they naturally started playing the violin when they were small, or had it like a toy.I don't remember when I started.I was playing when I noticed ...
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.I've been taken to my parents' amateur orchestra practice and training camp since I was little, playing next to the adults practicing, and hiding in a contrabass case ... (laughs).That's why I didn't recognize it as classical music, but thought that music was that kind of thing.Originally I grew up in a house where only classical music was played ...
 

 
Fukunaga Classical music is centered around Vienna, and you can still feel the atmosphere.It's really thrilling to think that Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and others wrote such songs here.Feeling this air on your skin and experiencing the German language they used is something you can never do in Japan.In addition to that history, Vienna is still the city of music, so you can listen to various concerts almost every day.For that reason, I am really glad that I was able to study in Vienna.
 

 
Fukunaga I hadn't left Japan until I entered university and studied abroad, so I didn't know it at all.Where is Vienna in Germany?It was like that (laughs).I was practicing Alban Berg's violin concerto when I was in college, but of course I didn't understand that "Viennese style" was written as a playing style instruction in a certain part. It was. When I asked sensei, sensei said, "I should go to Vienna and explore it myself," and I thought that was the case, so I thought I did it when I was in the third year of college that year ...Take your passport for the first time (laughs).I stayed for about a month because I wanted to live in Vienna instead of a sightseeing trip.After living there for a while, the scales from my eyes. I had a lot of thoughts that I could study more if I did it here, so I decided to study abroad in Vienna.
 

 
Fukunaga: My parents just thought I would be an amateur (laughs), so I didn't really get that much music education.It feels like I'm playing with my parents with a violin, and I don't even remember being forced to practice.That's why I've had a lot of technical and musical difficulties since I became a professional.I've been playing for a long time (laughs).
 
 

 
Fukunaga When I got to sensei in Vienna, I was only able to play open strings for half a year.I was banned from playing songs because I had to start over from scratch, and I was just "la" every day (laughs).
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.After all, I had been with sensei for XNUMX years, but I fixed my right hand thoroughly first, and still I was told about my right hand until the end.I don't know if all sensei in Vienna are like that, but they took a lot of time ...At Tokyo College of Music, there was a practical test every six months, and I was overwhelmed by the assignment songs and practice songs, and it was difficult just to do it, but that is not the case in Vienna.Next to the entrance exam is like a graduation exam.So I could afford to go back to the starting point and face myself without being overwhelmed by time.It suits me very well.
 

 
Fukunaga The bad thing is that foreigners aren't very welcome because they are conservative or have pride as a city of music.
 

 
Fukunaga I had no problems when I was studying abroad.I'm glad I could study properly.When I decided to work, there were some difficult points.I'm a foreigner.
 

 
Even if I want to join the Fukunaga Orchestra, I don't get an invitation to audition.
 

 
Fukunaga It's completely different and open.In Vienna, do you feel like you can go home quickly after studying (laughs)?Of course, I think most people think that race doesn't matter, but when I was working in Vienna, I heard that "there are a lot of foreigners these days, so the sound is not good". There is a thing.When I was in Vienna, this was a daily occurrence.That hasn't happened since I moved to Zurich.So, as a Japanese musician, I think Zurich is easier to spend.In Vienna, musicians come from all over the world, there are many music colleges, and we have the pride of being a brand called Vienna, so the competition rate is high.So there was a fierce competition for survival as to how to kick off others and go up.Well, that's why I think the goodness of Vienna is preserved.I had a hard time.
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.I'm not sure when and how you came to Switzerland, but there are many wonderful seniors.
 

 
Fukunaga There are many wonderful sensei people in Japan, and I think that technically studying the violin can be done anywhere in this era.But in Vienna you can hear good performances every day.Really top-notch performers from all over the world are taking turns ...When I was a student, I went to concerts and operas almost every day, and it was a great musical study.
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.Famous orchestras from around the world are steadily coming to the Musikverein in Vienna, but it's cheap to stand by.Students are always welcome to stand by.Maybe it's about 500 yen.
 

 
Fukunaga I've never been happy to be Japanese.It's not that Japanese people are hated or Asian people aren't, it's just not a benefit.Even in chamber music concerts, there are many concerts that sell Vienna, so I have been told to refrain from doing so if you are not European in appearance.
 

 
Fukunaga Well, I think that's what it is.It can't be helped.But I'm still disappointed.I've never thought it was good to be Japanese, but thanks to this experience, I have a stance of having a strong belief in myself and doing my best for myself no matter what others say, and I can't help myself with a few things. I did.I positively think that I was able to study a good society.
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.But that's the good thing about Vienna.Seen from the other side ...
 

 
Fukunaga Yes.I think that's fine for Vienna.As I said, I love Vienna, including its temperament.
 

 
Fukunaga Something ... I felt like it was covered with dust (laughs) I was the first in a foreign country in Vienna and the first in Europe itself, so I couldn't figure out what Vienna was.
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.
 

 
Fukunaga I would like to say "music is myself" or "my life" (laughs).But for me, there isn't much weight.I think there are many ways to live, and I have a lot of other things I want to do.But I think music is a part of me.I wonder if it's like cooking.If you want to cut corners, you can get out of it as much as you want, but ... you want to eat delicious food.In order to eat delicious food, you have to go to various restaurants and know various tastes, think about it yourself and try it, and sometimes collaborate and exchange opinions with others and accumulate experience every day. And that's how delicious food is made.It's that kind of recognition.If you eat it anyway, you should eat delicious food ... (laughs).
 

 
Fukunaga Yes.I agree.
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.One of the things I'm grateful for joining the orchestra I've been longing for is that this orchestra can co-star with top-notch conductors and soloists.As a member of an orchestra, you can share the same time with great musicians and have the same musical experience.I often hear from senior orchestras what kind of wonderful performers used to play and what kind of wonderful memories they had.There are seniors who are actually experiencing the historical great conductor that I could only listen to by recording.It's not my own future goal, but my dream is to experience a historic performance as part of an orchestra.I'm glad I was doing music, because of my daily efforts and the way I've been studying!I'm really happy when I think from the bottom of my heart.But for that, I have to do my best every day without being distracted.
 
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.
 

 
Fukunaga That's right.The better the orchestra, the better conductors and soloists will come, so it is important to improve the level of the orchestra as a whole.I think it is important for seniors to steal more and more skills and inherit the tradition, and it is also important for energetic juniors to join the group and bring the orchestra to life.If you play with a good performer, you will be able to experience the same song at all, so it will be a great learning experience for myself, and I'm looking forward to continuing to experience various things ... ･.So I don't feel like expanding the range of music activities myself.
 

 
Fukunaga: With my own strength, I would never co-star with such a wonderful conductor or soloist.I am very grateful that I am able to work with you as a member of the orchestra.
 

 
Fukunaga The first condition is to be able to perform as it is ...Other than that, you should try various things.Even if you wait, nothing will come.If you wait, nothing really comes.No matter how good you are, if you stay still, you will end up with "good", so I want you to be interested in various things and try various things.It can be a competition, chamber music, auditions ... You can go to various sensei lessons here, and if you think that sensei is not only one person, but this person is very good, You can say that you should apply directly to that person to take lessons, so it is important that you open up your own path.
 

 
Fukunaga But that's because there are many people who are really good at it today.Therefore, it is important to take on the challenge and sell it.
 

 
Fukunaga It's really difficult to sell ... that's right.But if you are going to study abroad, I think you should take on various challenges.
 

 
Fukunaga: That's right (laughs).These days, it's familiar even if you're abroad.Decades ago, studying abroad wasn't something that could be done easily, but recently it's become so easy that I think it's a great thing, and I think studying abroad is no longer a special thing. ..So, why don't we all feel free to go there for the time being?In the old days, I think that if you study abroad, you have to make a flower bloom ... I think that you would go abroad for your life, but recently, the Internet has become widespread and information is easy to enter, so feel free to go. First of all, if you don't fit, you should come back without matching, and I think you should try various challenges, see various things, and do it without thinking about studying abroad.Anyway, I want you to try something.It's an era where you can just take a look, not that you should study abroad with a big goal.
 

 
Fukunaga I think so.In the old days, even if you wanted to get a foreign sensei, you didn't really know how to start from.Compared to that, there are various possibilities these days, so I think it's better to use those opportunities more and more.
 

 
Fukunaga Thank you.