Nobuyuki Tsujii appears (vocally) on a BBC radio show 'Access All' episode 145, aired on Feb 5, 2025.
The show can be listened for about a month on demand via BBC Sounds at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0kpb0vx
(Nobu's segment starts at the beginning.)
A transcript of the dialog can be read at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0kpb0vx
The text is preserved below.
bbc.co.uk/accessall
Access All – episode 145
Presented by Emma Tracey
EMMA- I am honoured to be speaking to Nobuyuki Tsujii. Nobu, as he’s affectionately known, is a fabulously talented and hugely successful professional pianist from Japan. He’s blind from birth, and he has played in the most famous classical concert venues, including the Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House, and he’s soon to play the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London’s Southbank Centre. Let’s meet Nobu. Hi, Nobu, how are you today?
NOBU- I am fine, thank you.
EMMA- Oh, thank you for the English, I really appreciate it, because Nobu is mostly going to speak to us through a translator today. You’re really welcome to Access All, Nobu. Can I start by asking you, how did you start to learn the piano? Was it difficult to find teachers?
[Speaking through a translator]
NOBU- I started learning properly from when I was 4 years old, and my mother found a teacher. Went straight into the pieces that what I wanted to learn, but through playing those pieces I learned some of the basic skills and techniques.
EMMA- Now you’re a very famous concert pianist and the pieces that you play are long and difficult often, how do you go about learning those now?
NOBU- Around until when I was primary school, I used to use the braille musical scores. But there is some music available, some pieces are not available, and also it took too much time to learn from music scores, so nowadays I have an assistant who can record each hand separately to learn and listen, and also they can explain what’s written on the score to me.
EMMA- Do you learn each hand separately and then put them together?
NOBU- Yes. I learn the whole thing by each hand separately and then put both hands together.
EMMA- That’s fascinating actually. Does it take longer to learn for you than a similar pianist who can see?
NOBU- He never thought about it! But also it depends on the pieces, how long those pieces: if it’s short pieces, it’s easier to remember; but if it’s long and complicated, it takes two or three weeks to remember the actual piece. So it’s really depending on the pieces.
EMMA- That does sound very speedy, three weeks to learn a whole long difficult piece. How about when you’re playing with an orchestra, how do you connect with the conductor and the other players when you can’t see the conductor’s arm movements?
NOBU- I can feel and hear his breathing, or grasp the feeling of the orchestra, and try to understand each other and feeling each other. If you continue repeating the performances, then we get to know each other even more.
EMMA- Thanks, Nobu, that was really, really interesting.
NOBU- Thank you very much.
EMMA- On with the show.
MUSIC- Theme music.
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