M. L. Liu, the Unofficial Website for International Fans of Nobuyuki Tsujii
The following interview was posted at http://www.de.emb-japan.go.jp/NaJ/NaJ1410/tsuji.html, in German. The English translation below is by me, with help from Chrome browser.
Information for Nobu's upcoming concert in Berlin can be found here
Nobu previously performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall on Nov 10, 2013
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Image by Peter Adamik posted on the offical website of Nobuyuki Tsujii,, shown here via Internet link
News from Japan: Mr. Tsujii, you have been playing piano since early childhood. When did you start and what was the reason?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: My parents had received no special training in classical music, and only my mother could play a little Koto. Because they had heard that classical music has a positive impact on children in the womb, she often listened to classical music during pregnancy. One day, when I was eight month old, she entertained me with a CD with piano music of Chopin. She told me later that when the Heroic Polonaise was played, I started kicking my feet with pleasure. From then on, she played this CD every day, until it eventually broke. My mother then bought a new CD, but to whose music I did not respond. Then she compared the old with the newly bought CD and found that the tracks came from different pianists. Actually, my father said it was hard to imagine that an eight-month-old child could tell the difference between two different pianists and thought I simply had grown tired of the music. But my mother again bought a CD with the original pianist ... and in fact, as the Heroic Polonaise was played, I began again to kick my feet. After that, my parents realized that I have a special relationship with music and bought me, when I was two years old, a toy piano. But since I did not know how to play it, I initially just made random noises. One day my mother was singing "Jingle Bells" while preparing Christmas dinner, and I suddenly started to accompany her singing on my piano. From then on, I spent all day replaying whatever that my mother sang, by ear on the piano. At the time my parents never thought that I have a special talent or should become a musician. They were just happy that I had found something that filled my life with joy.
Nal: As a musician, you have to be very determined in practicing the piano. As a child, were there many other things that you would have also liked to do but did not do enough because of practicing?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: As I said before, my parents never thought that I should be a musician. At age four, I got my first real piano lessons. I sat on the knees of the teacher and played on a real piano. But I really was not taught how I should use my fingers, but just allowed to play the music the way I wanted to play it. As a child, I really liked playing the piano; for me it was just like playing. Often my parents struggled to lure me away from the piano, for example, when the food was ready on the table, because I just would not stop.
I practiced really hard before the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. For that I had to memorize one-hour performances of a work of chamber music, two concertos, as well as a modern work. At that time I had the feeling that, no matter how much I practice, it was not enough. However, I was never deterred by the practice; finally I was able to play in the United States before an audience. That's still like that.
Nal: You have performed almost everywhere in the world. Are there certain features in individual countries that you recognize?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: The audience in the United States are very lively, inspiring me to action. The Japanese audience listen to the pieces very carefully, in a studied and concentrated way. In Germany I feel at the beginning somehow a certain tension, as if the audience is questioning whether a young Japanese could really understand Western music. In Berlin the audience has very good ear; and there I sensed that the audience at first said to themselves, "Let's see how he does." But when you play well, the audience is immediately ready to appreciate that too, and then I look forward to feeling that the effort was worthwhile.
Nal: At your concerts, do you somehowadjust to the specificfeatures of each country?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: No. The works that I perform always comes first, and I stay true to them.
Nal: Which performances abroad have you particularly remembered?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I have met a great many great audiences and gotten along with excellent orchestras and conductors. I would like to get to know many more countries. But if I want to pick out a specific performance, then it was my debut at Carnegie Hall in the fall of 2011. I'm usually not nervous before performances, but I was -- perhaps because this is a stage with such an amazing story -- really tense. I could not wait to finally get to the stage and a half hour before the performance I shouted out: "Let me play already!"
Nal: You have already been in Germany a few times. What impression do you have of this country?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: In June 2011, I won the Van Cliburn competition, and two weeks later I started my first tour abroad; the first appearance was in Dortmund. If you step on the stage in the United States, one is immediately greeted with a round of applause. But in Germany I felt at that time an atmosphere of testing, as if everyone asked: "Let's see how well he can play." But even during the playing, the atmosphere and the audience changed and they started to enjoy the music together with me. Finally, after I could not hear the applause any more, I played an encore, which was not planned. There was a standing ovation and that has really given me a lot of confidence. My impression of Germany is that it places great emphasis on punctuality and the service is excellent. It is usually so that the stage manager observes the audience and only if everyone is seated that we are given the signal to appear on stage. But when I gave a concert in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonic last year, the manager just looked at his clock and promptly at seven o'clock he opened the door to the stage for my performance. And the audience actually were all sitting in their seats. I just thought: "That's Germany." Otherwise, I noticed that the portions at dinner are very abundant, especially in the meat. So, I have to work very hard to put in a few more exercises at the gym so as not to gain weight.
Nal: How did the German audience responds to your previous performances in this country?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I've noticed that it always accurately knows to appreciate a successful performance.
Nal: Do you think that your blindness brings to you as a musician disadvantages and advantages? Can you give specific examples?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I think it does not matter.
Nal: What are your plans for your future musical work? Are there any tasks or goals that you set for yourself to reach?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I consider every one of my performances a very important opportunity. Also I would like to expand my repertoire, and I have to delve even deeper into the music. The learning never ends.
Nal: What are your plans for the upcoming November concert here in Berlin and is there anything you want to tell the audience coming to your concert?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: After my appearance at the Philharmonic last year I was asked to return there this year. I really felt a great honor and I want to meet the expectations of the audience and the concert organizer. Ravel's "Gaspard de la nuit" is both technically and expressively a very difficult piece, but since I was a student, I had always wanted to play it. It is on the first part of the program. And Chopin's Piano Sonata no. 3, in the second part of the program, is the piece that I played at the 2005 Chopin Competition. That was nine years ago, and I think I am now in a position to perform the Sonata so that my own development becomes clear. Both pieces I have performed already in Japan and in Taiwan since last June, and I am confident that I am well prepared for the show in Berlin. My message to the audience is: "Please look forward to the concert!"
Nal: Thanks for the interview.
Nobuyuki Tsujii
Born in 1988 in Tokyo. Blessed from an early age with a special talent for playing the piano, he won first place at the age of seven (1995) in the category Piano of "Japanese music competition for blind artist". In 1998 he completed his stage debut with a symphony orchestra. This was followed in 2000 by the debut as soloist. In 2005 he was the youngest participant at the 15th International Frederik Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where he was awarded the "Critics Award".
Awarded first place in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, he began his touring activities in prominent concert halls in Japan and abroad, including in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Numerous concerts and joint appearances with orchestras in many countries have affirmed his great and worldwide success.
He is also a composer, with a focus on film music.
(Interview conducted by Kiyo Ubukata, Embassy of Japan.)
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Looking sharp in a striped shirt, Nobu practices Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C# minor, at the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall on November 10, 2013. New Year Day BS-Asahi TV special
The following interview was posted at http://www.de.emb-japan.go.jp/NaJ/NaJ1410/tsuji.html, in German. The English translation below is by me, with help from Chrome browser.
Information for Nobu's upcoming concert in Berlin can be found here
Nobu previously performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall on Nov 10, 2013
Image by Peter Adamik posted on the offical website of Nobuyuki Tsujii,, shown here via Internet link
Embassy of Japan
News from Japan # 119 October 2014
Japanese artists abroad:
Interview with pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii
On November 3, the blind-at-birth pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii will be a guest at a Berlin Philharmonic concert. News from Japan conducted an interview with him on this occasion.News from Japan: Mr. Tsujii, you have been playing piano since early childhood. When did you start and what was the reason?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: My parents had received no special training in classical music, and only my mother could play a little Koto. Because they had heard that classical music has a positive impact on children in the womb, she often listened to classical music during pregnancy. One day, when I was eight month old, she entertained me with a CD with piano music of Chopin. She told me later that when the Heroic Polonaise was played, I started kicking my feet with pleasure. From then on, she played this CD every day, until it eventually broke. My mother then bought a new CD, but to whose music I did not respond. Then she compared the old with the newly bought CD and found that the tracks came from different pianists. Actually, my father said it was hard to imagine that an eight-month-old child could tell the difference between two different pianists and thought I simply had grown tired of the music. But my mother again bought a CD with the original pianist ... and in fact, as the Heroic Polonaise was played, I began again to kick my feet. After that, my parents realized that I have a special relationship with music and bought me, when I was two years old, a toy piano. But since I did not know how to play it, I initially just made random noises. One day my mother was singing "Jingle Bells" while preparing Christmas dinner, and I suddenly started to accompany her singing on my piano. From then on, I spent all day replaying whatever that my mother sang, by ear on the piano. At the time my parents never thought that I have a special talent or should become a musician. They were just happy that I had found something that filled my life with joy.
Nal: As a musician, you have to be very determined in practicing the piano. As a child, were there many other things that you would have also liked to do but did not do enough because of practicing?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: As I said before, my parents never thought that I should be a musician. At age four, I got my first real piano lessons. I sat on the knees of the teacher and played on a real piano. But I really was not taught how I should use my fingers, but just allowed to play the music the way I wanted to play it. As a child, I really liked playing the piano; for me it was just like playing. Often my parents struggled to lure me away from the piano, for example, when the food was ready on the table, because I just would not stop.
I practiced really hard before the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. For that I had to memorize one-hour performances of a work of chamber music, two concertos, as well as a modern work. At that time I had the feeling that, no matter how much I practice, it was not enough. However, I was never deterred by the practice; finally I was able to play in the United States before an audience. That's still like that.
Nal: You have performed almost everywhere in the world. Are there certain features in individual countries that you recognize?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: The audience in the United States are very lively, inspiring me to action. The Japanese audience listen to the pieces very carefully, in a studied and concentrated way. In Germany I feel at the beginning somehow a certain tension, as if the audience is questioning whether a young Japanese could really understand Western music. In Berlin the audience has very good ear; and there I sensed that the audience at first said to themselves, "Let's see how he does." But when you play well, the audience is immediately ready to appreciate that too, and then I look forward to feeling that the effort was worthwhile.
Nal: At your concerts, do you somehowadjust to the specificfeatures of each country?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: No. The works that I perform always comes first, and I stay true to them.
Nal: Which performances abroad have you particularly remembered?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I have met a great many great audiences and gotten along with excellent orchestras and conductors. I would like to get to know many more countries. But if I want to pick out a specific performance, then it was my debut at Carnegie Hall in the fall of 2011. I'm usually not nervous before performances, but I was -- perhaps because this is a stage with such an amazing story -- really tense. I could not wait to finally get to the stage and a half hour before the performance I shouted out: "Let me play already!"
Nal: You have already been in Germany a few times. What impression do you have of this country?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: In June 2011, I won the Van Cliburn competition, and two weeks later I started my first tour abroad; the first appearance was in Dortmund. If you step on the stage in the United States, one is immediately greeted with a round of applause. But in Germany I felt at that time an atmosphere of testing, as if everyone asked: "Let's see how well he can play." But even during the playing, the atmosphere and the audience changed and they started to enjoy the music together with me. Finally, after I could not hear the applause any more, I played an encore, which was not planned. There was a standing ovation and that has really given me a lot of confidence. My impression of Germany is that it places great emphasis on punctuality and the service is excellent. It is usually so that the stage manager observes the audience and only if everyone is seated that we are given the signal to appear on stage. But when I gave a concert in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonic last year, the manager just looked at his clock and promptly at seven o'clock he opened the door to the stage for my performance. And the audience actually were all sitting in their seats. I just thought: "That's Germany." Otherwise, I noticed that the portions at dinner are very abundant, especially in the meat. So, I have to work very hard to put in a few more exercises at the gym so as not to gain weight.
Nal: How did the German audience responds to your previous performances in this country?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I've noticed that it always accurately knows to appreciate a successful performance.
Nal: Do you think that your blindness brings to you as a musician disadvantages and advantages? Can you give specific examples?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I think it does not matter.
Nal: What are your plans for your future musical work? Are there any tasks or goals that you set for yourself to reach?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: I consider every one of my performances a very important opportunity. Also I would like to expand my repertoire, and I have to delve even deeper into the music. The learning never ends.
Nal: What are your plans for the upcoming November concert here in Berlin and is there anything you want to tell the audience coming to your concert?
Nobuyuki Tsuji: After my appearance at the Philharmonic last year I was asked to return there this year. I really felt a great honor and I want to meet the expectations of the audience and the concert organizer. Ravel's "Gaspard de la nuit" is both technically and expressively a very difficult piece, but since I was a student, I had always wanted to play it. It is on the first part of the program. And Chopin's Piano Sonata no. 3, in the second part of the program, is the piece that I played at the 2005 Chopin Competition. That was nine years ago, and I think I am now in a position to perform the Sonata so that my own development becomes clear. Both pieces I have performed already in Japan and in Taiwan since last June, and I am confident that I am well prepared for the show in Berlin. My message to the audience is: "Please look forward to the concert!"
Nal: Thanks for the interview.
Nobuyuki Tsujii
Born in 1988 in Tokyo. Blessed from an early age with a special talent for playing the piano, he won first place at the age of seven (1995) in the category Piano of "Japanese music competition for blind artist". In 1998 he completed his stage debut with a symphony orchestra. This was followed in 2000 by the debut as soloist. In 2005 he was the youngest participant at the 15th International Frederik Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where he was awarded the "Critics Award".
Awarded first place in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, he began his touring activities in prominent concert halls in Japan and abroad, including in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Numerous concerts and joint appearances with orchestras in many countries have affirmed his great and worldwide success.
He is also a composer, with a focus on film music.
(Interview conducted by Kiyo Ubukata, Embassy of Japan.)
Looking sharp in a striped shirt, Nobu practices Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C# minor, at the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall on November 10, 2013. New Year Day BS-Asahi TV special