PPO meets its new maestro
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Posted on July 13, 2016
Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
A black belter and a disciplinarian, Yoshikazu Fukumura, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s (PP0) newest maestro, promises to make the PPO “one of the best orchestra groups in Asia.” His strategies: Go back to basics, and no late comers, please.
“I demand discipline,” he said in Nihonggo before an intimate press launch on July 6. An interpreter was there.
The maestro sees no problems arising from the language barrier. Music, after all, is a universal language. “Of course, it is really difficult to explain things with words. Orchestra members are music persons, so there is that common language of music. I have dealt with many orchestras in different countries and if it is simple words related to music and to the work I am doing, I speak different languages on a practical level... If you are a musician, you understand music,” he said.
While language is not an issue, he said coming late to rehearsals without a compelling reason “is unacceptable.” He even joked about using his black-belt moves on late comers.
“He is very energetic,” Cultural Center of the Philippines president Raul Sunico added while moving his hands in the air as a demonstration. “He moves a lot.”
The 70-year-old conductor said he had no problems at all when he was the PPO’s guest conductor during select concerts in 2012, 2013, and 2015. He said he was even drawn to work with the group because the “PPO has a unique sound; something that is warm, something which is bright, meaning light.”
He added: “This is something that you cannot feel or hear in any other Asian orchestras, including Japan. I believe that the orchestra has its potentials. There were efforts of the musicians on their own, as well as with the help of the foreigners who have brought it to this level, but I believe that Filipinos have a sense of musicality and so this dream that I have for the orchestra is a possibility. It is attainable.”
Mr. Fukumura is the former music director of Tokyo Ballet, the Kyoto Municipal Symphony, and the Nagoya Philharmonic.
“His selection as the new music director of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra is an exciting development and promises to add a dynamic and innovative chapter to the constant evolution of the PPO,” added Mr. Sunico.
BACK TO BASICS
The PPO recently returned from its very first performance at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City under the baton of Mr. Fukumura’s predecessor, Olivier Ochanine.
“I do not desire to criticize my predecessors,” said Mr. Fukumura, but he thought PPO “is lacking in basics.”
He noticed this after looking back to the last three or four PPO performances. “Basics,” as in more conservative programs and a repertoire of classic pieces, he said.
He added that the group should “focus on the need to redevelop the audience.”
A concert is sustained by the concert-goers -- “in order for the audience to come, the performance should be interesting,” he said.
Mr. Sunico agreed and said that going back to basics is having “good foundation,” but also said that the basics, or the classics like Beethoven and Mozart, “are difficult.”
But PPO is ready to embrace the coming changes once Mr. Fukumura starts conducting in September. -- Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
The maestro sees no problems arising from the language barrier. Music, after all, is a universal language. “Of course, it is really difficult to explain things with words. Orchestra members are music persons, so there is that common language of music. I have dealt with many orchestras in different countries and if it is simple words related to music and to the work I am doing, I speak different languages on a practical level... If you are a musician, you understand music,” he said.
While language is not an issue, he said coming late to rehearsals without a compelling reason “is unacceptable.” He even joked about using his black-belt moves on late comers.
“He is very energetic,” Cultural Center of the Philippines president Raul Sunico added while moving his hands in the air as a demonstration. “He moves a lot.”
The 70-year-old conductor said he had no problems at all when he was the PPO’s guest conductor during select concerts in 2012, 2013, and 2015. He said he was even drawn to work with the group because the “PPO has a unique sound; something that is warm, something which is bright, meaning light.”
He added: “This is something that you cannot feel or hear in any other Asian orchestras, including Japan. I believe that the orchestra has its potentials. There were efforts of the musicians on their own, as well as with the help of the foreigners who have brought it to this level, but I believe that Filipinos have a sense of musicality and so this dream that I have for the orchestra is a possibility. It is attainable.”
Mr. Fukumura is the former music director of Tokyo Ballet, the Kyoto Municipal Symphony, and the Nagoya Philharmonic.
“His selection as the new music director of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra is an exciting development and promises to add a dynamic and innovative chapter to the constant evolution of the PPO,” added Mr. Sunico.
BACK TO BASICS
The PPO recently returned from its very first performance at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City under the baton of Mr. Fukumura’s predecessor, Olivier Ochanine.
“I do not desire to criticize my predecessors,” said Mr. Fukumura, but he thought PPO “is lacking in basics.”
He noticed this after looking back to the last three or four PPO performances. “Basics,” as in more conservative programs and a repertoire of classic pieces, he said.
He added that the group should “focus on the need to redevelop the audience.”
A concert is sustained by the concert-goers -- “in order for the audience to come, the performance should be interesting,” he said.
Mr. Sunico agreed and said that going back to basics is having “good foundation,” but also said that the basics, or the classics like Beethoven and Mozart, “are difficult.”
But PPO is ready to embrace the coming changes once Mr. Fukumura starts conducting in September. -- Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
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