This is an English translation of an article published in Nikkan San on March 7, 2019, as a part of my column, “The Way of the Pianist.
“Music is a Universal Language” It may not be an overstatement if I were to say this phrase led me to be the pianist I am today.
I moved to the States when I was thirteen with my family accompanying my father’s new position in NYC. My parents moved us on June, so my sister and I can be enrolled in summer schools to get used to English. There were two sentences I could utter with any kind of confidence on my first day of summer schools: “Where is the bathroom?” and ”I am hungry.” The first class threw me into a state of shock – I understood nothing. I could not even guess the topic of discussion. Hating feeling stupid, I resolved to get up at 4 every morning, and manage to catch up with the rest of the class. But when it came time for an exam, I realized that I could not understand the questions!
Getting into Juilliard Pre-College at the end of that summer soothed my injured sense of self-worth. My childhood idol, the child-prodigy violinist Midori went there at the time. Along with the letter of acceptance, what gave me hope was the first piece my teacher assigned me to learn: Brahms Intermezzo, Op. 116-2. I’d never played Brahms before, but when I played the first phrase of the piece, I found myself immediately identifying with its melody. (I know this song!) It sounded like the Japanese folk tune, “Sakura.” (I can play this as well as anybody!) I got hooked to practicing that summer.
That teacher has since passed on. I have no way of finding out if she planned things to work out this way with her choice. Regardless, as a result, I became the pianist I am today. In Bolivia, Macedonia, even in the former Eastern Germany where Neo-Nazis greeted me with a “Heil, Hitler!” I kept on performing chanting “Music is a Universal Language” as my mantra. We may look different, speak different languages, with different cultures and faiths, but we all love beautiful things, human connections make us happy, and hurting each other makes us sad. Music reminds us that what we share is greater than our differences.
Brahms could not have known “Sakura.” Why do melodies from different cultures often end up sounding similar? What does every civilization have songs? On Sunday, March 24th from 2PM to 3PM, I will be presenting a lecture-concert on this topic. Titled “Melody as a Universal Language” it will be presented as a part of Los Angeles Public Library’s “LA Made” series at Mark Taper Auditorium at Downtown Central Public Library. Admission is free. Tickets can be reserved here. Children are welcome!
