This is the fourth in a series of backstory posts, in commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of Nobuyuki Tsujii's Cliburn Competition Victory. In this article, we acknowledge some of the people whose support for Nobu contributed to his victory at the Competition.
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On June 7 2009, this paragraph appears in a
Fort Worth Telegram article... Tsujii had the largest entourage of any of the competitors, and it grew. Aside from his mother Itsuko, who was permitted to stay with the host family because of his disability, a teaching assistant flew in from Tokyo, as did two managers. Then his main teacher, Tokyo-based concert pianist Yukio Yokoyama, flew in for a 24-hour whirlwind visit for some last minute mentoring. Then came the pinstripe-suited chairman of 105-year-old Ueno Gakuin University, where Tsujii is in his junior year. This weekend, a Japanese TV crew arrived to shoot the final day for the TV Asahi network. TV Asahi did a documentary on Tsujii five years ago and the Cliburn footage will be used in a new, updated version program, said Naoyuki “Nick” Asano, part of the team. -- Barry Shlachter
It describes well the support that Nobu received at the competition, which eventually led to his victory. Below I list those (whom I am aware of) who contributed to Nobu's success at the competition -- I am sure I have left out some people, and I apologize in advance.
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Mr. Van CliburnAs reported by
Andrew Marton of
the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram,
Only minutes after Nobuyuki Tsujii's emotional performance in the lead-off program for the night session [of the preliminary round], Van Cliburn was spotted for the first time at his namesake event, just outside the East portal of Bass Hall, grabbing a quick smoke and deep in conversation with several friends. What he was talking about, as it turns out, was the singular performance by Tsujii, the contest's only blind performer and, now, clear audience favorite. "He was absolutely miraculous," Cliburn gushed. "His performance had the power of a healing service. It was truly divine." --
Mr. Clbiurn's support for Nobu never wavered. He gave lavish praise to Nobu at
his 2011 Carnegie Hall debut, and the Clbiurn Foundation arranged for a private meeting of Nobu with Mr. Cliburn at his home two month before his death.
Nobu issued a moving eulogy upon the passing of Mr. Cliburn in 2013.
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Below: a screen grab from the 2009 Cliburn Competition documentary, of the moment when Mr. Cliburn calls out the name of Nobu. I always feel that he took extra pleasure in that announcement.
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Mr. Richard Rodzinski --
Mr. Rodzinski was President and Executive Director of the Van Cliburn Foundation for twenty-three years. After the 2009 Cliburn Competition, he moved on to head the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
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Image below: Mr. Rodzinski with Nobu at the award ceremony; his joy for Nobu is unmistakable.
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And along with Mr. Rodzinski, the entire Jury -- including the esteemed
Menahem Pressler -- are to be commended for their recognition of Nobu's musicality and their collective courage to defy the foreseeable controversy of naming a sightless winner, of which more will be said in my next post.
Image: The Cliburn winners and some of the jurors on stage, still photo from the documentary.
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*** Mr. Peter Rosen, documentary maker, was responsible for
the 2009 Cliburn documentary "A Surprise in Texas." It was through watching the documentary on TV that
I became a Nobu fan in 2010. Mr. Rosen went on to make two more documentaries about Nobu ("
Nobuyuki Tsujii Carnegie Debut Live" (2011) and
"Touching the Sound"(2014). I was especially happy to see Mr. Rosen at Nobu's
Carnegie Hall recital last month (May 10 2019), photo below.
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***Mrs. & Mr. Carol and John Davidson (host family)Mr. and Mrs. Davidson cast an unforgetable impression on me, when in 2010 I watched Mr. Rosen's
documentary of the competition. They were the host family with whom Nobu and his mother stayed during the competition.
Image: Mrs. Davidson (leftmost) and Mr. Davidson (pushing luggage) after meeting Nobu (holding a guiding cane) and mother Itsuko (in orange) at
the Dallas-Fortworth airport. ![]()
Image: Jubilant Mr. and Mrs. Davidson with Nobu and his trophy.
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In a 2010 documentary aired on Japan TV, there is footage (now viewable on YouTube) of
Nobu revisiting his host family. I was surprised that the Davidson home is a modest condominium and not the palatial mansion as I had pictured, and my respect for them grew even more. I can hardly imagine opening my own home in such a way, especially given that Nobu, reportedly, practiced on the grand piano (on loan from the competition) until wee hour!.
In 2015, I was delighted to read that
the Davidsons came to a concert on Nobu's "Appassionata" recital tour in Japan. This is said in
the concert report posted on Nobu's official site:
"[Translated from Japanese] On this day [March 26 2015], Mr. and Mrs. Davidson, at whose home I stayed at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, came to Japan and we invited them to the concert. Because of their busy schedudle, it has been difficult to meet them even when I travel to the United States ... this was our first get-together for the first time in a long time, and we had a most enjoyable time." The report comes with this happy photo of Nobu and the Davidsons.![]()
I cannot find the article just now, but I recall reading in a recent (2018?) interview where Nobu said one of the things that has stayed with him the most from the Competition is the generosity of the host family.
*** Ms. Kay Nakamoto (interpreter)
She is the lady seen by the side of Nobu in the documentary on stage at the award ceremony (image below). A gracious Japanese woman who volunteered to be the interpreter for Nobu at the competition. In 2014, when
Nobu performed with the Orpheus in Carnegie Hall for the first time, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Nakamoto in person, and expressed my appreciation to her of what she did for Nobu.
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***Mrs. Itsuko Tsujj & Mr. Takashi Tsujii (Nobu's parents) ![]()
Mrs. Tsujii is seen in the image above upon her arrival in Tokyo with son Nobu, after the competition, to a hero's welcome
. In the photo, Nobu has on the Texas cowboy hat bestowed on him by the Davidsons, and Mrs. Tsujii is seen in a tangerine-colored suit. Orange is the color that she wore throughout the Compeition -- said to be Nobu's lucky color. In the preliminary round, it was Mrs. Tusjii -- in her tailored orange suit -- who made a rare stage appearance to escort Nobu back to the wings after his stunning performance, perhaps at the urging of competition organizers. Mr. Tsujii -- Nobu's father -- did not travel to America for the competition, but I have seen footage of him being interviewed on Japan TV, soon after the news of Nobu's victory. The hard-working father, a medical doctor who heads an obstetric clinic in Japan, was in tears. *** Mr. Furuki Kaburaki, business manager
Mr. Kaburaki was one of the two managers who accompanied Nobu at the competition, and was the stage escort for Nobu (photo below) at most of his performances. In a video of Nobu's rehearsal with conductor
James Conlon, it is he who stepped up to inform the maestro that Nobu can hear a conductor's breathing and sync up with the music that way.
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***Mr. Naoyuki "Nick" Asano, Avex managerMr. Asano does not appear in the
competition documentary. But he shared with me this photo of him seated with Nobu at the award ceremony -- judging from the empty seats all around them, they must have arrived at the hall very early!
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In years to come, Mr. Asano would become Nobu's travel companion all over the world and play a large role in Nobu's subsequent successes, and it is through him that I made contact with Nobu. Sadly, Mr. Asano parted ways with Nobu in late 2018, but
he has not been forgotten.
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Professor Yukio YokoyamaProfessor Yokoyama, a former Chopin Piano Competition prize winner, is a renowned pianist in Japan. Called in at the last minute to coach Nobu on his orchestra performances at the final round of the Competition, Mr. Y graciously complied, flying in from Tokyo -- between his own concerts -- to lend a hand. In the
competition documentary, we see him coaching Nobu on two side-by-side pianos
.Some time after Nobu's return to Tokyo, Mr. Y and Nobu gave a duo concert at a Yamaha piano studio, seen in the photos below.
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*** Female Teaching assistantI am sorry that I never found out her name, but she is seen in the
documentary, the lady who comes to the Davidson home to assist Nobu -- perhaps in his practices and in preparing for his performances. She is also seen at the award ceremony (image below) and celebrates with Mrs. Tsujii with genuine emotion.
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Professor Masahiro KawakamiMr. Kawakawami was Nobu's childhood piano teacher. He accompanied Nobu to
the 2005 Chopin Piano Competition in Poland (at which Nobu reached the penultimate round), but he was not with Nobu at the Cliburn Competition.
Even so, in the 2009 Cliburn documentary, it was to Mr. Kawakami that Nobu is seen in one scene in the
documentary, speaking vehemently on the phone after learning that he is among the finalists. In a subsequent interview, Mr. Kawakami said that he was happier to have received that call than when he eventually learned of Nobu's gold medal. In 2012, Mr. Kawakami and Nobu appeared in a
TV Show that pays tribute to Mr. Kawakami (image below).
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Happily, Mr. Kawakami continues to be a mentor of Nobu. Most recently in May 2019, he traveled to
Europe and
Russia for Nobu's performances. Mr. Kawakai, a specialist in Russian composer
Nikolai Kapustin, is enjoying a thriving career of his own as a pianist, professor and academician.
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Being a gracious Japanese, Nobu himself has perhaps given thanks to all the people mentioned above. As someone who has derived so much pleasure from his successes in the wake of the Cliburn Competition, I too feel indebted to them.
Thank you, thank you!***
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