Nanao Yamada Growing up, I never had a doubt in my mind of a life as a musician. I started to learn the violin at the age of 9, and ever since then, with the support of my mother, I have always thought I was going to be a musician. And I have seen many children like myself around me that thought the same, and lived a similar lifestyle. However, it was not until 2009 when I moved back to Japan with my mother and started to study with Chihiro Kudo, that I saw another option in my life. I loved my lessons with him, thought he was the teacher I needed then to grow, and to improve. But in 2010, he passed away with cancer. Until then, I did not have anyone close to me pass away. After such a tragic loss, I could not pick …show more content…
I enrolled in a state university in Oregon, only to soon realize how much I missed music. I withdrew from that university, started working at a music studio close to home. From there, I began studying music at a local university, reconnecting to the lifestyle that I very much missed. With the help of my teachers and friends, I decided to transfer to a conservatory, for more improvement and challenge. The transfer process was not easy, and made me realize how much of a fool I had been to think that these conservatories would accept me. Without a very successful outcome, the one place that has accepted me was Eastman School of Music, in the studio of Oleh Krysa. I was very scared to go to an environment with more skilled, more determined people. But going to Eastman was the best decision I have ever made. I truly grew immensely as a musician, but as a person. Eastman has the best combination of challenge and feeling at home with the most supportive …show more content…
The school divided us into small groups of 4 or 5 to ask each of us questions concerning arts. I recall one of the questions being, “these days, some people say, that the arts is dying. How does that fact affect you as an aspiring musician?” And I strongly remember answering with the utmost confidence, “I suppose that the arts is dying. You go to a classical music concert, and all you see are elderly people. However, that does not concern me one bit about my future as a musician. I love playing the violin and that’s all I need to know. In a sense I am naive but if music moved a person like me, I don’t see why it can’t move other people too.” I quoted that around 3 years ago, but I still stand true about what I said. Coming to Eastman, I definitely saw how grand the music world, and how I’m merely a tiny fish in an ocean of amazing musicians. To this day, I have my doubts and insecurities about my future. But as Steven Isserlis said in an interview, “it is so vitally important constantly to nurture our connection with music in a sincere way; one can feel let down by many aspects of life – but Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven et all will NEVER let us down.” (Steven Isserlis, interview conducted in Tokyo) There is no doubt that at this point in my life, music is a part of me. Especially because I have lived a life with and without, I can say that I much prefer this