This is an English translation of an article published in Nikkan San on Oct. 15, 2020, as a part of my column, “The Way of the Pianist.”
Music is competitive. So many factors outside of your control influences your survival in the industry; money, connections, fate… When I was younger, I worked hard to stand out. To display technical mastery with speed and accuracy. To hone my “it” factor. To search my own unique musicality and individuality. I thought what I needed was to be better, more superior.
The biggest takeaway from my venture into neuroscience was the realization that the essence of music was not in its sophistication or aesthetic provocation, but in its ability to encourage empathy. Music is a reminder that what we share is greater than our differences. Every civilization has had its own musical culture, because the bond that music brings about among us is innately and essentially human. We see ourselves in the others around us. Your joy is my joy. Your sorrow is my sorrow. To be able to offer your pain some solace can provide the best cure for my own pain.
By the time my next column is published, we will have already known the election results. Climate change, natural disasters, racial and economic inequities, healthcare, COVID-19 and its economic impact…the election happens in the midst of of many challenges. What makes it worse is the algorithms on the internet that knows and manipulates our views and actions, feeding us only the information that it knows we are more likely to click on. The system can make us more opinionated, and all of us more divided. And of course, there are all sorts of fake news and many different kinds of falsehoods that can be disseminated in an unprecedented speed and scale.
With every opportunity I get to speak, I want to remind everyone that we share our space. However divided we are on issues at hands, we all suffer the effect of our collective decisions at the end. We share our hopes and dreams for our future, and the future of our children. We are more than the thoughts we consciously think. When we listen to the same music together, our heartbeats, breathes and brainwaves start to synchronize. Let’s not forget respect for each other’s dignity. Let’s have faith in each other’s humanity. I send out my music every day with these hopes and prayers.