Nobuyuki Tsujii
Nobuyuki Tsujii | |
|---|---|
 Nobuyuki Tsujii in Carmel, California, 2011 | |
| Born | September 13, 1988 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Pianist, composer |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Website | |
| http://www.nobupiano1988.com/index.html | |
Nobuyuki Tsujii (born September 13, 1988) is a Japanese pianist and composer.
Background
Nobuyuki Tsujii was born blind but was gifted with a talent for music. At the age of two, he began to play "Jingle Bells" on a toy piano after his mother had been humming the tune. He began his formal study of piano at the age of four. In 1995, at the age of seven, Tsujii won the first prize at the All Japan Music of Blind Students by the Tokyo Helen Keller Association. In 1998, at age ten, he debuted with the Century Orchestra, Osaka. He gave his first piano recital in the small hall of Tokyo's Suntory Hall at age 12.[1] Subsequently, he made his overseas debut with performances in the United States, France, and Russia. In October 2005, he reached the semifinal and received the Critics’ Award at the 15th International Frederik Chopin Piano Competition held in Warsaw, Poland.[2]
In April 2007, Tsujii entered Ueno Gakuen University, graduating in March 2011.[3]
Tsujii competed in the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and tied for the gold medal with Haochen Zhang. He was also awarded the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the best performance of a new work. He played all twelve of Frédéric Chopin's Op. 10 Études as part of his performance in the preliminaries.
He was one of the competitors prominently featured in the documentary film about the 2009 Van Cliburn competition, "A Surprise in Texas", which was first broadcast on PBS TV in 2010.[4]
In addition to being a pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii is a composer. At age 12, he performed his own composition "Street Corner of Vienna."[5] In 2010-2011, he composed the theme music for a Japanese film[6] as well as for a Japanese TV drama.[7] In June 2011, Japanese figure skating champion Midori Ito performed in a world event (Master Elite Oberstdorf 2011)[8] to the music of "Whisper of the River," composed by Tsujii when he was in high school to express his love for his father after the two took a walk on the Kanda River in Tokyo.[9] Tsujii is solely responsible for and composed the music for the Japanese film はやぶさ 遥かなる帰還 The Return of the Hayabusa" released in February 2012.
On November 10, 2011, Nobuyuki Tsujii made a debut recital in the main hall (Isaac Stern Auditorium) at Carnegie Hall in New York, as part of the Keyboard Virtuosos II series.[10][11]
Nobuyuki Tsujii was featured in an original short film "Lights of Japan" shown at the World Economics Summit in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2012.[12] In the film, he performed on a grand piano restored from the ravage of the March 2011 tsunami that devastated Eastern Japan.[13] Additionally, he performed in numerous charity concerts on behalf of Japan's earthquake and tsunami victims, including a UNESCO concert held in Paris on March 11, 2012.[14].
Nobuyuki Tsujii is featured in a 2013 English textbook for high schools in Japan.[15]
Comments on Tsujii
Van Cliburn is quoted as having told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "He was absolutely miraculous. His performance had the power of a healing service. It was truly divine."[16]
2009 Van Cliburn Competition Juror Richard Dyer, a chief music critic for The Boston Globe, said, "Very seldom do I close my notebook and just give myself over to it, and he made that necessary. I didn't want to be interrupted in what I was hearing."[17]
2009 Van Cliburn Competition Juror Michel Béroff, an award winning internationally known pianist, told the Japanese monthly piano magazine Chopin,[18] "The special thing about his performance is his sound. It has depth, color and contrast, the genuine music."[19]
In the documentary "A Surprise in Texas", Menahem Pressler, Cliburn juror and an eminent pianist, says: “I have the utmost admiration for (Nobuyuji Tsujii). God has taken his eyes, but given him the physical endowment and mental endowment to encompass the greatest works of piano. For him to play the Chopin concerto with such sweetness, gentleness and sincerity; it's deeply touching. I had to keep from crying when I left the room.”
Scott Cantrell in his review of the 2009 Van Cliburn competition for The Dallas Morning News wrote that “It's almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata by ear…Through all three rounds, he played with unfailing assurance, and his unforced, utterly natural Chopin E-Minor Piano Concerto was an oasis of loveliness.”[20][21]
John Giordano, music director and conductor of Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra who was jury chairman for the Cliburn competition, said in 2010, "He’s amazing. We closed our eyes and it’s so phenomenal that it’s hard to withhold your tears. Nobu played the most difficult hour-long Beethoven piece (Hammerklavier, Sonata no. 29) flawlessly. For anyone, it’s extraordinary. But for someone blind who learns by ear, it’s mind-boggling."[22]
In an interview after the November 2011 Carnegie Hall debut recital of Tsujii, Van Cliburn said on TV Asahi, "What a thrill to hear this brilliant, very gifted, fabulous pianist. You feel God's presence in the room when he played. His soul is so pure. His music is so wonderful, and it goes to infinity to the highest heaven."[23]
Works
Since his triumph at the Cliburn, Tsujii has gained prominence in classical piano music, especially in his native Japan. His Cliburn CDs, as well as other CDs recorded before 2009, are now widely available. His official Van Cliburn disc (HMU 907505) has sold well over 100,000 copies. [24]
- Début Nobuyuki Tsujii, Avex Entertainment label, 2007: contains one disc of recitals of works of Chopin, Liszt, and Ravel; and a second disc with five original compositions of Tsujii.
- Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2, released by Avex Trax Japan in 2008, with conductor Yutaka Sado and the Deutsches Symphonie
- Nobuyuki Tsujii, Gold Medalist, 2009 - Winners CD, released by harmonia mundi in 2009
- Nobuyuki Tsujii Cliburn Competition Final Round Recital, released by harmonia mundi in 2009; also available as a DVD
- Nobuyuki Tsujii Cliburn Semifinal Round Recital, released by harmonia mundi in 2009; also available as a DVD
- Nobuyuki Tsujii Cliburn 2009 Preliminary Round Recital, released by harmonia mundi in 2009; also available as a DVD
- Frederic Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1; Etudes Op. 10, released by harmonia mundi in 2010; containing Tsujii's live performance at the Cliburn Competition of Chopin's Piano Concerto no. 1 op. 11 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Conductor James Conlon, Berceuse performed in the final recital, and 12 études op. 10 performed in the preliminary round.
- Pictures at an Exhibition Nobuyuki Tsujii, released September 15, 2010 by Avex Classics; containing Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition suite and two Franz Liszt pieces: Concert Etude No.3 in D Flat Major Un sospiro and Rigoletto Concert Paraphrase.
- Chopin: Piano Works, with two discs, 10 tracks each; recorded at the 2005 Chopin Competition in 2005, and re-released by Victor Japan in September 2009.
- My Favorite Chopin Nobuyuki Tsujii, recorded in Germany in January 2010 and released by Avex Classics in March 2010. Included in the ten tracks are Andante spinato; Grand Polonaise; Ballade op.23; Mazurkas, op 24; Nocturnes, op. 27; and Fantaisie in F minor, op. 49.
- Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 , with Yutaka Sado and the BBC Philharmonic, recorded in England in December 2010 and released by Avex Classics in February 2011. Included is a recital of Robert Schumann's Papillons.
- Nobuyuki Tsujii - Yutaka Sado - BBC Philharmonic Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, released by Avex Classics in February 2011
- 神様のカルテ~辻井伸行自作集 Nobuyuki Tsujii Works, 2000-2011, a collection of Tsujii's own compositions, released by Avex Classics in July 2011
- それでも、生きてゆく オリジナル・サウンドトラック('Still We Live'Original Sound Track), released by Avex Classics in August 2011, containing renditions of the theme music of a TV drama composed by Tsujii, as well as his performances of Chopin's "raindrop" prelude, Chopin's nocturne no. 2 Op.27, and the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.2
- 辻井伸行 カーネギーホール・デビューLIVE Nobuyuki Tsujii Carnegie Hall Debut Live!, an album of live recording of most of the pieces performed by Nobuyuki Tsujii at his November 10, 2011 debut at the Carnegie Hall, New York. Released by Avex Classics on December 28, 2011.
- はやぶさ 遥かなる帰還 オリジナル・サウンドトラック Nobuyuki Tsujii - Hayabusa Harukanaru Kikan Original Soundtrack, original film music composed by Nobuyuki Tsujii. Released by Avex Classics on February 8, 2012.
Since becoming a Van Cliburn winner, Tsujii has been performing in concerts all over the world. As of 2012, he is an IMG (International Management Group) artist.
Nobuyuki Tsujii has performed successfully with numerous orchestras under the baton of many conductors, both in Japan and abroad. Conductors that he performed with in recent years include Yutaka Sado (BBC Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin), James Conlon (Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra), Randall Craig Fleischer( Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra), John Giordano (Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra). Thierry Fischer (Swiss Italian Orchestra), Vladimir Spivakov (Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra), Jean-Marie Zeitouni ( Edmonton Symphony Orchestra), Paolo Carignani (Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra), Inoue Mitiyoshi (Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa), Yuzo Toyama (NHK Symphony Orchestra ). In 2012 and 2013, he is scheduled to perform with Michael Collins (Basel Symphony Orchestra), Vladimir Ashkenazy (Philharmonia Orchestra), Eliahu Inbal (Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra), Valery Gergiev (the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra), Ludovic Morlot (Seattle Symphony Orchestra), and Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra).[25]
References
- ^ Century Orchestra Osaka website Template:Ja icon
- ^ "Artist Profile: Nobuyuki Tsujii" - Avex Classics (classical record company) website
- ^ interview,Chugoku Shimbun, evening edition, April 11, 2011
- ^ "A Surprise in Texas: The Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition", PBS, premiered Wednesday, September 1, 2010.
- ^ Nobu Piano-辻井伸行 Official WebSite
- ^ "Pianist Tsujii Nobuyuki composes theme song for Sho Sakurai’s upcoming movie", MomoEdwood's Media Watch, April 15, 2011
- ^ "Eita, Mitsushima Hikari co-star in 'Soredemo, Ikite Yuku'", TokyoGraph, May 9, 2011
- ^ "Midori Ito, 2nd Masters Elite II Free skating", YouTube Videos, June 22, 2011
- ^ "【辻井伸行】挑戦し続ける鍵盤アーティスト！映画音楽、グルメにカーネギー…", ZakZak, July 28, 2011
- ^ "Pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii Makes New York Recital Debut On Thursday, November 10 At Carnegie Hall", Carnegie Hall Press Release, September 30, 2011
- ^ "A Pianist’s Composition Rounds Off Debut Recital", New York Times Music Review, November 13, 2011
- ^ "The original short film 'Lights of Japan' for 'Japan Night' at Davos in 2012", Japanese Government Internet TV, February 3, 2012
- ^ 『ダボスＪＡＰＡＮ ＮＩＧＨＴ から世界へ復興メッセージ小山薫堂氏が映像制作、各国のリーダーが集う会場で自然と拍手』, Japan Economics News, January 27, 2012]
- ^ "Disaster anniversary concert in Paris", House of Japan, March 12, 2012
- ^ "School textbooks feature 'hip' topics", The Yomiuri Shimbun, Mar. 29, 2012
- ^ Granberry, Michael,"Van Cliburn 2009: Piano is a passion for blind competitor", The Dallas Morning News, Tuesday May 26, 2009,
- ^ NHK video(NO.2761),"心癒やす至福”の音色 ～ピアニスト・辻井伸行～", NHK(Japan Broadcasting Corporation), July 2, 2009,
- ^ Chopin magazine website Template:Ja icon
- ^ Oda, Yuki, "'Nobu' Fever: Japan Falls for a Blind Piano Prodigy", Time magazine, Wednesday, November 18, 2009
- ^ Cantrell, Scott, in the Dallas Morning News, June 2009
- ^ Also quoted in the "Van Cliburn Foundation official Gold Medal Winner biography: Nobuyuki Tsujii"
- ^ Baird, Mike,"Japan's piano superstar will play with Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra", Corpus Christi Caller Times, Thursday October 7, 2010
- ^ BS-Asahi, 『奇跡のピアニスト 辻井伸行23歳 新たなる挑戦(仮)』(a Japanese TV documentary on the Carnegie Hall debut recital of Nobuyuki Tsujii), January 1, 2012
- ^ Nobuyuki Tsujii Chopin CD Product Description, amazon.com
- ^ Nobuyuki Tsujii official website
External links
- Profile at Van Cliburn Competition website
- Nobuyuki Tsujii official website
- "Artist Profile: Nobuyuki Tsujii", Concert Service Co., Ltd. Template:Ja icon (shorter English version)
- Parenting Square by Nobuyuki's mother, Itsuko Tsujii Template:Ja icon
- 2009 Cliburn Competition Webcast
- Nobuyuki Tsujii Cliburn Touring Information
- Information on Pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii