{"id":2178,"date":"2021-06-15T16:05:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T23:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicalmakiko.com\/en\/?p=2178"},"modified":"2021-06-15T16:05:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T23:05:21","slug":"the-art-of-converting-ones-heart-into-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicalmakiko.com\/en\/my-musical-mission\/2178","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Converting One’s Heart into Form."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is an English translation of an article to appear in\u00a0Nikkan San<\/a>\u00a0on June 20, 2021. It is a part of my bi-weekly column, \u201cThe Way of the Pianist<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of today, June 15th 20021, California Governor Newsome terminated the executive orders<\/a> that put into place the\u00a0Stay Home Order\u00a0<\/strong>and the\u00a0Blueprint for a Safer Economy<\/strong>. There are still some advisory guidance in place, especially in terms of travels, masks and large events. However, this milestone and the definitive and bright light at the end of the long tunnel brings about a welcome sense of relief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reunion with friends livens our conversation. Today, I saw another pianists whose friendship I have enjoyed since my mid-teenage years. Our discussions turned to whether piano-playing was an art from or not. He asserted that what we do is a craft of faithfully recreating an already composed music. I argued that score is not music on its own. Artistic creativity can come in many forms. Chef following the same recipe for years, maybe even decades. Artisans passing on historical crafts to the next generations. Dancers executing a choreography. Actors personifying a role. And pianists interpreting, and breathing life into an already composed piece of music. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn’t art a way to convert your heart into form? And the point of formulating your heart is to share, to let your heart be known. To that end, what is the most important in art is not originality, but universality. The notion that to compose music is more creative than to perform the piece has its root in a misunderstanding that to compose is to create music that has never been created. However, if the composer wants his music to be communicative to his audience, then he has to rely on the shared grounds and language. Music that only seeks originality is not art, but theory. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And ultimately, the point of any expression – the conversion of our hearts into forms – is our desire to understand and to be understood, because of our need for love. And if art was a skill to turn heart into a form, then it’s not just paintings, poetry, sculpture and music, but also a handwritten letter, the time you spend to sit next someone in tears, the extra care you put into preparing something for someone. This is our humanity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is my latest YouTube upload. This one is about the fMRI study I conducted with a team of researchers from Center for Performing Arts Medicine at the Houston Methodist Hospital!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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