This is an English translation of an article published in Nikkan San on June 18, 2020, as a part of my column, “The Way of the Pianist.
When was the last time you listened to music with your eyes closed?
When we are not as free to go where we’d like or to travel, music, literature, paintings, movies…these things can transport us to another time, space and reality. Music, especially is powerful. Like scent, it appeals directly to our senses skipping reason and consciousness, thus connecting us instantaneously to our childhood memories or transporting us to our happy place.
With the effect of Covid-19, in the last week, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Shakespeare Company in London, and other major institutions in the performing arts industry announced cancellations or postponement of all productions for the rest of this year. We expect that there is more to come of the same. If they open while following the social distancing guidelines, they would have to keep every other row empty, and keep two seats empty between each audience members. This would raise the price of the tickets to two to five times its normal rate.
However, we musicians are not driven by the profit. What drives us is the power of the arts. We are on a mission to promote humanity with our faith in the power of beauty. We have gotten into our profession, knowing that our future was going to be uncertain, our income insecure, and competition fierce. Covid-19 does not faze us. There are some theaters and concert presenters who have already announced the next season with spread-out seating, knowing that they will go into the red. Many artists are offering contents on line for free.
I, too, have been active online since the beginning of this quarantine. I have been putting up videos on YouTube, some old recordings from my past performances, some new. I am trying to reach out to be helpful. I have also been appearing on live-streaming concerts. On Monday, June 22nd at 12:30 for a half hour, I will be presented by Japan Foundation Los Angeles’ Series “Music Monday: Cheer Up with “Virtual” Concert.” I will perform pieces by a Japanese composer, Kosaku Yamada, and some Japan-inspired pieces by Debussy. Please follow me! Let the power of music heal us all!!