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The Special Intensive Seminar will feature Debussy

2012-02-03T07:29:45Z

The special intensive seminar will feature "Debussy" as the year of his 150th anniversary. The lecture will be conducted on May 6th by Kazuoki FUJII, a pianist and professor of the Graduate school of Toho College of music, lecturer of Tokyo University of fine arts and music, Toho Gakuen School of Music. He graduated Le Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) with premier prix of composition and piano accompaniment.

In the 1st and 2nd part, he will give special lessons to 7 young pianists on pieces of "Estampes", "Children's Corner" and "Pour le pano". The 3rd part will be his lecture-concert on the pieces from "Préludes" and "12 Etudes". The details will be announced later.

This special seminar has been held once a year from the late 1990s, inviting renowned professors across the nation and abroad to give in-depth research on specific topics.

Teachers are Willing to Continue Learning; 170% Increase in Stage Appearance

2012-01-26T02:05:56Z

Piano Teachers become more and more willing to appear on stage as one of the continuing learning processes. In 2011, over 650 teachers took part in STEP, that is almost 170% increase during the last 5 years. Those teachers not only participate for their own sake but also joining with their students as colleagues or collaborators (duo, trio, etc). A statistic shows that the overall classroom seem to be encouraged, since the average number of participants per classroom is 14.4 people, 123% more than those without teachers' participation. *see statistics

Then, what brings them on (or back) to the stage? A piano teacher living in Chiba, Ms.Shoko Kubo wants to know what would happen on stage during the performance so that she could share the experiences with them. Ms.Midori Ohashi (Chiba) advised to her students that competition or STEP are one of the learning processes rather than just a goal to achieve, and her own involvement encourages them too. They themselves have been learning with their senior teacher, Mr.Kunio & Keiko Sasaki.

Prof.Sachiko Goto (representative of Pianissimo Station) has been taking part in STEP for 30 times. She regards it as one of the opportunities to prepare repertoires within a certain time limit, to play at various halls with various kinds of piano, and to be evaluated by other piano teachers.

To support those teachers who are willing to continue learning, PTNA will launch a new learning scheme called "ING program" which provides them with well-balanced study opportunities in the following 4 categories; Teaching / Playing / Writing / Reporting. The details will be announced next March.

PTNA News Letter 2011 is Released!

2012-01-23T02:57:12Z

PTNA News Letter has been published and delivered abroad every year to inform reports about events and activities of PTNA throughout the year.

In 2011, it was sent out to 37 countries across the world. The cover story was "After 3.11 in Japan, Revival through Music" that describes the immediate reactions of PTNA members after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, and charity activities that followed across the nation. Despite being seriously damaged, people in Japan take strength to retrieve their daily lives and musicians are taking significant part of the process on reconstruction of their confidence and aspiration. Many PTNA members took initiatives to lead charity events, as well as giving free piano lessons, and donations to musical / non- musical funds. =>Read 2011PTNANewsLetter.pdf (PDF)

In 2010, "PTNA starts Networking Local Competitions" was the main topic. This is based on the idea, owing to the rapid increase of domestic competitions, that students might be better to have multiple choices of learning and performing opportunities. In 2009, the article of "Lesson Study Tour Begins!" introduces piano teachers who kept learning through 'On the Job Training'. Lesson Tour provides opportunities for them to observe other teachers' lessons who have rich experiences and knowledge. It is required to write reports afterward. In 2008, the theme is similar, but more focused on teachers' self-development nature. "Piano Teachers Appear on Stage" illustrates the teachers who encourage themselves enlarge repertoires and play on stage. The increased number of stage appearance, 150% increase in 3 years, proved that they no longer just stay behind the scene but rather expose themselves in public which resulted in good for both of them.

Here are the main four advancements through the activities in the past 5 years; Increase of 1) piano teachers who keep learning and take initiatives in local music communities 2) new pedagogical experiments for the education of future generation 3)online contents and services 4) collaborative projects to flourish music in the society. =>see details

Since the activities of PTNA are contributed by each one of the members, we think it important to introduce from whom the idea came up and how it is developed and will be affected to the world of music pedagogy and society in general.

PTNA has English website (update weekly) and facebook so that you can follow latest news.

Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Foundation, Acknowledged as Public Interest Association

2011-12-23T01:46:09Z

Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Foundation that supports young talented pianists to study abroad is acknowledged as a public interest incorporated association on December 15th 2011, by the Cabinet Office of the Goverment of Japan.

Back in 2002, the 1st scholarship audition was held after the will of the late Yasuko Fukuda (founder of PTNA) to discover young distinguished pianists and to offer 1 million yen scholarship. The activity has been expanding since then, while being loyal to its original purpose. Besides organizing biennial scholarship audition, It offers young pianists opportunities for masterclass by renowned oversea professors, and supports them participating in international festivals & seminars throughout the year. The Yasuko Fukuda Prize winners are Shohei SEKIMOTO (2003), Rina SUDO (2005), Matthew LAW (2007), Tomoki SAKATA (2009), Aimi KOBAYASHI (2011), and a few others received prize of excellence each year. The expansion of those activities was resulted in the establishment of Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Foundation in 2010, soon followed by the acknowledgement as a general incorporated foundation.

From 2011, the renewed Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Foundation as a public interest incorporated association, is organized by the founding members and newly appointed executive board members who dedicate themselves in the world of music in Japan; Tokihiko UMEZU (The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd), Masayuki SEKITA (Vice Chairman of Japan Arts Corporation), Masafumi NISHIMAKI (Director of planning and production section at Toppan Hall).

It is ran by donations from individuals and corporations, and donors are entitled to have the favorable tax treatment.

How About Building 'My Page' on PTNA Piano Encyclopedia?

2011-12-16T06:25:30Z

PTNA Piano Encyclopedia will launch 'My Page' service from next April 2012. This online encyclopedia contains a number of sound data, list of composers and pianists, information of piano pieces. It aims at encouraging customers to enjoy their music lives by using those information in more efficient and personal way. The membership fee for 'My Page' is 2,400 yen/year. Here are the advantages of this service;

1. You can put pieces in your music list on 'My Page' after listening, studying, playing them.
2. You can freely grade the pieces / performances that you have registered according to five ranks.
3. Feel free to write comments on pieces / performances and select whether to reflect it or not onto the PTNA Piano Encyclopedia public page.
4. Free access to Naxos Music Library that is interconnected with PTNA Piano Encyclopedia. Those who do not have 'My Page' will not be entitled to make free access to Naxos Music Library after March 2012.

General Musicianship Workshop Series 2012 is Coming!

2011-12-02T01:51:33Z

The new program of the General Musicianship Workshop Series is announced. This is the 3rd season from 2010, starting on April 2012 to March 2013. Each lecture will be held between 10:30-12:30 at the To-on Hall (Tokyo) and e-learning service is also available from 10 days after each session.

(1) April 25th: Mari TAKEDA "Read scores of Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy"

(2) May 23rd: Miho ABE "Talking about pieces created in daily piano lessons"

(3) June 20th: Chikara IWAMURA "Let's 'conduct' piano pieces"

(4) July 18th: Tadashi ISOYAMA "Latest interpretation of J.S.Bach"

(5) Sept.12th: Kazuhiko KOYAMA "Let's play ensemble"

(6) Oct.10th: Takashi OBARA "How to play popular music beautifully by classical performance methods"

(7) Nov.14th: Kunio SASAKI "Advantage and methods of playing solo pieces by duo"

(8) Dec.12th: Junji MITSUISHI "What is 'reading scores'? Think it through vocal pieces"

(9) Feb.13th: Yasuhide ITO "Attraction of rhythm"

(10) March 13th: Akira IMAI "Secret of intonation -to make the music be your own words-"

What is the Meaning and Effect of having Concerts?

2011-11-26T00:34:58Z

PTNA is supporting concerts promotion for pianists in various aspects; public announcement, ticket selling, introduction of sound data etc. We receive about 350 applications par year, among which, PCC Piano Duo (Toru Masuko, Masaki Saibara) counts the highest number of application since 2009, 36 times.

Rintaro AKAMATSU follows this duo group, who has applied 20 times in 2 years. He says that concert is the space that he can share the 'chemical reaction' between audience, and therefore, he believes it strengthens the willpower to put out nothing but the truth though music. He regards "PTNA public recording concert" as the stage of 21st century that keeps the excitement of live performance as well as the joy of sharing music with everyone online. Naomi SUZUKI, a piano teacher and the representative of 'Chiba-Sotoboh Station' in Chiba, plays on stage 9 times in the last 2 years. It enables her to feel close to her students and to share the experiences of repertoire building, preparation for performance and even choosing dresses. Yuko ISHIKAWA, an ensemble pianist, began as a soloist but gradually became interested in ensemble performances. She says that ensemble is not just the music but the communication without words. She also would like to convey a sense of 'strength of cooperation' to the people who suffered in the northeast earthquake.

Then, how is the overall figures about concert activities that PTNA supported in recent years? A statistics on concert style proves that ensemble performances reaches 22%, while solo recitals occupies 53%. Still the latter is dominant, but demands for ensemble seem to be increased.
Another statistics shows that pieces most played were Chopin's Ballade no.1 (52 times), Grande Polonaise brillante Op.53 (43 times), and Barcarolle Fis-Dur Op.60 (40 times), followed by Chopin's Sonata no.3, Liszt's Grandes études de Paganini S.141 no.3 "La Campanella" and Beethoven's Sonata no.14 "Sonata quasi una fantasia" (39 times).
It is probable that choice of Debussy's music would increase next year as it will be 150th anniversary of his birth.

PTNA gave presentation at FACP Conference

2011-11-18T05:33:50Z

The annual conference of FACP (Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion) was held on November 3-5th in Manila, the Philippines. Seikoh Fukuda,CEO of PTNA and one of the FACP governers gave a speech in the framework of "Asian Gems". As the representative of the independent organization, he introduced that PTNA is responsible for its policy and finance, and explained how it discovers and nurtures young talents by offering them musical experiences. He addressed the importance of musical and human interactions for their further development, and appealed to enhance international exchanges.
After his speech, Fuyuko NAKAMURA(18)played Mendelssohn Etude Op.104b/1 and Scriabin Piano Sonate Op.19 with beautiful tones.

This year, 167 delegates representing 99 culture and arts organizations attended the conference. Here are the reports;

1. FACP History and Asian Culture Values
2. Presentation of Japanese Delegates
3. Gala Concert and Future Prospects

Three PTNA Prize Winners' Concerts In The Coming Months!

2011-11-11T02:08:21Z

PTNA winners' concerts will be held in the coming months! They will be the concert for solo and duo categories, for Grandmuse category, and for gold and silver medalists of grade superior and G. Here is the overall repertoires in chronological order.

(1) Prize Winners' Concert for solo and duo categories

Prize Winners' Concert for solo and duo categories will be held on March 20th at Daiichi-Seimei Hall, Tokyo. 23 soloists, 7 duos, and 1 chamber music group will give performances. The grand prize winner, Tomoki SAKATA will play both solo (Liszt, Ungarische Rhapsodie S.244 no.12) and Mozart's piano quartet no.1 K.478. Aimi KOBAYASHI, who won the Yasuko Fukuda prize this summer will also appear on stage. In addition, prize winners of piano and voice divisions at 2012 Japan Mozart Music Competition will be invited to this concert. ->see details

(2) Prize winners' Concert for Grandmuse category

Winners' concert of Grandmuse category for amateurs will be held on February 19th at Hakuju Hall, Tokyo. 12 soloists and 2 duos will perform on stage. ->see details

(3) Oji Prize Award winners' Concert for prize winners of G & grade superior

Oji Prize Concert will be dedicated to the gold and silver prize winners of grade G & grade superior. 4 young promising pianists will show their matured musicality on February 11th at Oji Hall, after they won prizes in August; Tomoki SAKATA (grand prize), Kei TAKUMI (silver prize at grade superior), Shigetoshi EZAWA (gold prize at grade G), Kiana RIED (silver prize at grade G). ->see program

The performances of semi-final (solo recital) and final round (concerto) of grade superior is now available online!

PTNA Piano Seminar Encourages 'Theory and Practice' Repeatedly

2011-10-27T09:08:20Z

Since 2007, PTNA piano seminars have been held almost 300 venues par year across Japan. It encourages piano teachers to study further about the subjects / topics of piano pedagogy, performance, interpretation, etc. The number of the reports being submitted has reached 30,182. They are collected after each seminar, given hand-written signatures by the lecturers, and returned to the participants. It shows how teachers are enthusiastic in keep developing their professional knowledges and skills.

The statistics shows that one-thirds of the participants are under 30 (31%). Younger teachers are likely to join seminars in order to know further about the topics as well as to meet experienced lecturers. Even teenagers took part in seminars (8%). The largest age groups are 40s(37%) and 50s(25%), which proves they progress their careers through continuous study and research. Nearly half of the new participants are non PTNA members.

It can be said that the more they study at seminars, the more they seem to project it on to the real situation. Those who take part in seminars more than 51 times, had their students join the PTNA piano competition of PTNA piano STEP more than 200 times (a total of 200 students). And 40% of them have received PTNA Piano Teachers' Award, which is twice of those participate less than 40 times.

The subject of the seminar varies; pedagogy (51.6%), performance (11.4%), interpretation (11.2%) and in-depth study of required repertoires of PTNA Piano Competition(25.9%).

Seminars are mainly organized by PTNA branch offices and STEP stations throught Japan. Yokohama Central branch office (Kangawa) has held 66 times so far, which is followed by Yamanote branch office (Tokyo, 54 times) and Funabashi branch office (Chiba, 45 times).

Here are some testimonies; Ms.Nahoko Katsuda went to several seminars to learn further about the required repertoires, and knew various ways of interpretations on each piece. "Knowing various choices might be the way to overcome difficulties in daily lessons".
Ms.Yumiko Motohashi, already joined seminars for 27 times, was once so impressed with the subject of "parenthood" lectured by Prof.Shiro Takahashi that she immediately joined the association for promoting parental education. She expects that PTNA would propose various topics not only for piano petagogy but also others like administration of piano studio.
Ms.Toshiko Fujii, frequent-goers of seminars living in Toyama (already 37 times), does not hesitate to attend whenever she finds the subject interesting. She sometimes drives to the neighboring prefectures and enjoys conversation with her colleagues on the way. For her, what she has learned and experienced so far is the 'trunk of tree', and what she learns at seminars becomes 'branches and leaves' to enrich her piano teaching. She testifies that students seem to improve as her teaching skill develops.

*Please see e-learning program page.
*What is PTNA e-learning service?

Jazz Jazz Jazz STEP!

2011-10-24T05:18:31Z

Jazz-oriented STEP will be launched on February 19th under the direction of Prof.Eriko AKIYA. Prof.Akiya graduated Berklee College of Music in Boston where she studied composition and arrangement, and received Quincy Jones Award. After continued her study in the Juilliard School, she came back to Japan and found that there existed a big boundary between classical music and jazz that students hardly go across.

This time she becomes advisor of Bunkyo Jazz STEP and offers participants opportunities to play jazz music or classical music with drum and base accompaniments.
Prior to this event, she held a seminar on October 8th and taught how to make simple jazz arrangement on classical music. One of the audiences testified that she was encouraged to acquire some jazz rhythms and to apply them on her classical repertoires. This crossover experience seemed to bring her sense of freedom and joy.

Another three consecutive sessions will be available for beginners;
-Nov.5th : Learn the characteristics of jazz and play some themes
-Dec.3rd : Learn specific rhythm and chords of jazz
-Jan 28th. : Play ensemble by adlib

Music Created and Developed by the Dialogue Between Teacher and Students

2011-10-14T06:27:47Z

Necessity is the mother of invention; A piano teacher and composer Miho ABE, frequently compose music for her students in order to fit in their needs of technical challenges and exploration of expressions. Her music is, so to speak, created and even developed by the dialogues between teacher and students.

She is also the representative of Shiroi Station, one of the administrative offices of STEP, and will organize STEP event next February. Prior to this concert-style evaluation event, some of the participants who will play her compositions can take lessons from her. (photo: staff member of the Shiroi Station)

Some of her music have been already chosen as the required repertoires at PTNA Piano Competition in 2008, 2009 and 2010. You can read further about her and colleagues, and the project that PTNA is doing to promote Japanese compositions.

=>Required Repertoires of PTNA Piano Competition,
Articles about Japanese Compositions

=>The New Composition Selection Committee

=>Musse, on-demand publishing service

2012 New Season Programs of PTNA Public Recording Concert

2011-10-04T04:55:13Z

PTNA is pleased to announce the new programs of PTNA Public Recording Concert for the year 2012.

Since the beginning of 2010, this concert series has been held 15 times, and the number of newly recorded pieces has reached 116. Now they are available on PTNA Piano Encyclopedia, and also reachable through youtube. This online encyclopedia is the text and sound database which introduces over 20,000 piano pieces (w/o program notes) and 4,000 of sound sources at present. PTNA aims at increasing live recordings so that many people enjoy and study with them online.

*Programs for the year 2012 ->detail

Vol.17 Jean-Pierre FEREY / 4th Oct. 2011 / Rameau, Boellmann, etc.
Vol.18 Toshiki USUI / 18th Feb. 2012 / tbc
Vol.19 Kyoko NAKAGAWA / 11th March / Schumann
Vol.20 Katsumi TANAKA / 25th March / Turina, Franck, Wolf-Ferrari
Vol.21 Akira NAITO / 8th April / Mompou
Vol.22 Sanae KONNO / Harumi SUGOH / 22nd April / tbc
Vol.23 Miku OMINE / 6th May / Haydn, Szymanowski, Mussorgsky
Vol.24 Takaya SANO / 20th May / French or American Modern
Vol.25 Yuhi OZAKI / 3rd June / tbc
Vol.26 Tomoki SAKATA / 24th June / tbc
Vol.27 Michiya OTAKE / 14th July / Beethoven, Schubert, Bach-Busoni
Vol.28 Tomoyo UMEMURA / 9th Sept./ tbc
Vol.29 Eiko SUDOH / 8th Oct. / tbc

*Reports & Pianists of vol.1-vol.16

*Ichiro KANEKO / Asuka MATSUMOTO / Hironao SUZUKI / Rieko NEZU / Pianoduo Deu'or (Takashi FUJII/ Yoshie SHIRAMIZU) / Yusuke KIKUCHI / Genzo TAKEHISA / Mamiko TOMARI / Noriko SATO / Hiroaki OI / Ayumi IGA / Akiko EBI / Romain Descharmes (cancelled) / Mineko TSUCHIYA / Shohei SEKIMOTO / Rintaro AKAMATSU

*Recording technician: Video Classics
*Recording equipments :
HDD recorder:Roland　EDIROL R-4
microphone :RODE　NT2-A (2)
video :CANON　FS21/HF20

A Teacher From Fukushima Resumes STEP Station in Tokyo

2011-09-26T09:31:10Z

6 months have passed since the earthquake occurred. After the days of shock and grief, many musicians have been trying to take a step forward to restore their own musical activities. A piano teacher from Fukushima, Mitsue SOEDA, moved in her hometown Tokyo this spring. She transferred the administration office of her STEP station which she had established in Fukushima 7 years ago ("Namie Station"), and renamed it into "Kyodo Melody Station". This renewed station will organize STEP in February 2012, accepting as many singers as possible. The arrangement fee for the professional accompanists will be granted by PTNA as a part of the charity programs.
SOEDA has rich experience in teaching and judging competitions, and she even received 24th teacher's award this summer despite the period of suspension.

Likewise, many teachers and students from Fukushima are evacuating to other prefectures. Kyoko YOSHIZU, whose three pianos including a Steinway bathed in water, found her students being dispersed since March 11th. It was July that she met her students again in Tokyo where they had a concert (To-on Hall). At present, some of them are taking lessons by *a teacher in Tokyo.
*PTNA is now introducing volunteers who would give piano lessons to those evacuees for free of charge. 146 piano teachers across Japan are now on the volunteer list as of August 15th.

On the other hand, Yuko HOSOBUCHI, the representative of Iwaki Station, stays in Fukushima and seeks a way to recover the music life there. She invited pianists twice for the charity concerts at evacuation shelters, and had a tea party at her house to share the experiences with mothers and colleagues.

PTNA is introducing several charity programs for music and musicians ; One of them is "Kokoro no Fukkou Ongaku Kikin", the donation for dispatching professional musicians to the stricken areas. "Piano Donations for Japan Disaster Affected Public Schools" , addressed by a PTNA authorized member Michiko SHOJI, aims at offering pianos to public schools badly damaged by earthquake and tsunami.

Requests & Opinions Led Us New Proposals; Memorial Concert for A2 Grade

2011-09-16T05:27:37Z

PTNA has been trying to respond to as many requests and opinions from piano teachers and students in order to renovate our projects and schemes.

Among them, one of the biggest renovations was in A2 grade, the lowest age group of PTNA Piano Competition, where the final round was replaced to be the memorial concert. In response to the opinion against the necessity of the judgement for little children, after several years of discussions, this special concert was started from 2010 in place of the final round.

On August 21st, the 65 finalists of A2 grade gathered at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall. Beatifully dressed, they played music with lots of affection and emotion on the prestigious concert stage. At the end of each section I & II, 'the collaboration stage' was arranged for further musical learning and excitements. Tomoyo Umemura, 2010 Grand Prize winner who had participated in PTNA Piano Competition from 8 years old, played several pieces on stage and shared the dream of music making. Then two percussionists Gen'ichiro Furukawa and Mayuka Tomita appeared from the back of the hall and led children enjoy the body percussion along with "Entertainer" by Scott Joplin. Children had a homework of body percussion before this concert (->see homework video "Entertainer"), so that the collaborative work went smoothly....and they did!
Here are some sketches drawn by children after the concert.

There are some agendas that are currently being discussed. PTNA always welcome requests and opinions, in pursuit of more effective and efficient proposals for piano teachers and students.