Yamaoka Memorial Foundation - Music Project Held (Nagahama City)
The Yamaoka Memorial Foundation held a "Musical Instruments Clinic" at Nagahama Kita Junior High School and Nagahama Biwa Junior High School on Wednesday, November 3, 2021.
This project was designed to help students who play in junior high school brass bands, to learn how to create music with a wide range of musicality and expressiveness by learning how to play instruments and express themselves from guest teachers who are professional musicians at the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra.
In view of the situation of the novel coronavirus, we held this event again this year after taking all possible measures to prevent infection.
This year's program included lessons from the professional guest teachers for each instrument, and then a performance by the guest teachers to give the students guidance on performance and expression methods.
In the lessons, the students were instructed on the basics, such as how the tone of an instrument changes depending on the tilt of the instrument and breathing technique. The guest teachers used various teaching methods, such as making paper airplanes on the spot and checking the hand posture when flying the airplanes to show how to properly hold an instrument.
During the lessons, the students eagerly took in the guest teachers' advice on how to play the instruments. It was very impressive how some of them even filmed the guest teachers' performance on their iPads to make their techniques their own.
The ensemble performance by the guest teachers was attended by the brass band students and their parents or legal guardians. Some audience members closed their eyes and swayed to the beautiful sound, surrendering themselves to the music while enjoying the pieces of music. A wide range of music was performed, from bright tunes that children could enjoy to inspiring songs, making the audience want to listen to the music forever.
In the questionnaire responses from the brass band students, we received many comments that they felt they had grown through the lessons, that they now had a clearer understanding of what kind of practice they should do and that they could see new challenges. In addition, some students were impressed by the powerful sound of each instrument in the ensemble performance by the guest teachers, and they made it their new goal to be able to perform like the guest teachers.
In the questionnaire responses from the parents, some commented that they were grateful for this valuable experience for their children during the sensitive period of adolescence, and that they would like as many children as possible to experience "real performances" in the future. All the participants wished for the event to be held again next year, showing just how well-received this event was.