JICUF: Students, what has working with professional musicians been like? Has it motivated you to pursue a career in music or if not, in any other way?

Miu Yamada (ID23): It is fun to work with professional musicians. Their skills, techniques, passions, attitudes, and of course, personalities—they all help imbue music with authenticity and vitality. In such performances, we have great motivation to play and enjoy the moment. Recently, I’ve joined a choir outside of university and plan to be involved in it for a while, and this experience will surely be a source of inspiration for me.

Nanaka Yasuda (ID25): As the word “amateur” suggests, anyone can play music. However, in our normal lives, it is rare to have the opportunity to work with professionals on something that we enjoy as hobbies. I am a member of the ICU Glee Club, and through this collaboration, I am happy to work with people from diverse backgrounds with different skills and ages, all playing with different instruments and sounds. Of course, it is not easy for such a diverse group of people to work together on one piece of music, but there are also opportunities for new discoveries and learning. Through this experience, I realized firsthand how meaningful it is to step outside of my usual environment. I have greater motivation to pursue my own musical activities in the future.

Haseru Ida (ID25): This entire opportunity has definitely motivated me as a musician. It has been a great honor to be part of this project. The joint practice and concert, however, are yet to come, so I would like to express my expectation for working with the professional musicians. 

I started playing piano when I was little. I have always loved playing and listening to music so much that I even thought about entering a music school. Instead, I chose ICU as the place to pursue my academic career. Pursuing my music career in a rather “professional” way was something I deemed unrealizable. I joined the ICU Glee Club as a bass and when I became a sophomore, I received an invitation to this project from Prof. Sato. It was something I had never expected, and it has been a pleasure to be given such an opportunity that I felt I had abandoned.

JICUF: What has been the most challenging part of putting together this concert? What has been the most rewarding?

Yamada: Among members of the student choir, over half of us (I guess) were beginners when we started this project or those who started singing in choir after entering university, so working on Bach’s epic works of mass was so challenging by itself. The mass is so magnificent and glorious that we feel like standing in a majestic cathedral built several hundred years ago. At the same time, we sometimes feel we are wandering in the Minotaur’s labyrinth since the piece is complicated and carefully made with so many musical elements. We tackled it and finally made it to perform in our lovely chapel; all of this was challenging and rewarding, and will be an unforgettable achievement that we will all be proud of.   

Yasuda: Like any concert, the most challenging part in this kind of musical activity is reconciling our individual images of the music we all would like to create. I think, the more emotional the music is, the more difficult it is to put into words and therefore harder to verbally express our view of what “ideal music” is. In addition, mass pieces including the “Mass in B minor” are composed with sets of lyrics such as “Kyrie,” “Gloria,” and “Sanctus.” It is not easy to deepen understanding of the pieces from the lyrics alone. In such a situation, I could develop an image of the music through the movement and layering of sounds, which is very meaningful for my future musical activities.

Yutaka Leonhardt Krawehl (ID25): One of the main challenges of playing Bach’s mass in B-minor has been practicing the Baroque playing style. Compared to contemporary works, there are quite a few differences in performance technique which require even more attention when performing with modern instruments. One must compensate for the structural differences of baroque instruments and the sounds they would have created. The fact that baroque scores contain little to no information about articulation, ornamentation, dynamics, and the sparing use of finger vibrato for only expressive passages meant that practicing the music required even greater attention for sound creation as well as an understanding of how each note must be expressed.

The most rewarding part has been the opportunity to play alongside professional musicians. On the one hand, I feel great respect and honor for their play and their deeply caring attitudes toward playing music. On the other, I feel great joy that the many hours I poured into practicing the violin throughout my childhood have led to such an opportunity.

Ida: One significant thing I must mention about this project’s challenges is the overall difficulty of Bach’s composition in terms of both technique and expression. The level all the members needed to achieve musically was much higher than what we usually aim for in our club activities. Therefore, that has definitely been challenging. However, when we sing together, the fantastic sound we make reminds me that I am part of such a great piece of music. It  makes me feel as if my entire body integrates with the music. It has been the most rewarding moment for me.

JICUF: What emotions do you feel while playing this concert? What feelings or emotions do you hope to convey to spectators by attending the concert?

Yamada: I feel mainly two emotions when I play this work. One is “passion,” the word used in the title of another Bach masterpiece, “Matthäus-Passion.” In addition to feeling “passion” as a strong enthusiasm for something like music, I also feel the “Passion” that refers to the suffering of Jesus on the cross. The mass starts with “Kyrie” which has only a few words for lyrics: “Kyrie eleison,” in English, “Lord, have mercy”. This message is carried with pathetic melodies of polyphony which evokes a kind of lamentation while singing. 

The other is “joy,” as we sing blessings and melodies so gorgeous and full of joy. I love the way this music conveys joy. I will be glad if spectators feel not only “passion” and “joy,”but also the history of this music that has been played and admired for centuries and will continue to be played and admired in the future.  

Yasuda: I am genuinely impressed by the fact that this “Mass in B minor” was composed hundreds of years ago by Bach and is still being passed down today. I am filled with joy and gratitude that I am able to participate in such a precious performance opportunity, and that the concert itself can now take place, even though the threat of infection has not yet disappeared. It is impossible to perfectly assume what Bach was thinking when he composed the “Mass in B minor”, and what other performers were thinking while performing it themselves. However, I feel a sense of romance in the song, and being given this opportunity to perform this song is an absolute honor. I hope that the audience of this concert will feel this song not only through their ears, but also, through their eyes and in their heart, experiencing the non-melodic dynamics of music like the scenery of the chapel. Thank you to all involved with this concert.

Krawehl: There are no exact words for all my emotions while playing. All I can hope for spectators of this concert is that they notice the sincere feelings I try to express through my playing.

Ida: Frankly speaking, I feel genuinely happy when I sing this composition. No matter which key it is and which lyrics I am singing, I cannot help but have the pleasure of being part of the music. I would like the audience to feel this same pleasure. Of course, “Mass in B Minor” by itself stands as such a solemn and meaningful piece as represented by the phrase “Dona nobis pacem,” which means “Give us peace,” so it is unquestionably something I hope to convey. At the same time, I would like the whole audience to feel our pleasure and love for the music while they enjoy our performance.

I look forward to sharing this great experience with everybody at the concert!

~~~

The Christmas Concert will be held at the ICU Chapel on December 10, 2022. Tickets to attend in-person are sold-out. You may, however, stream the concert live HERE: Christmas Concert 2022 – Sacred Music Center (icu.ac.jp).