Mayumi Shimizu: Active in Germany as a Trombonist

There was a very enthusiastic teacher at the public elementary school I attended who gathered various wind instruments and formed a band. I had been playing the trumpet since the 4th grade, but when I was moving up to the 5th grade, that teacher told me, "You're big, so play the trombone."

But I heard later that it was because I had a good sense of pitch, even though it's difficult for elementary school students to get the intonation right. With a trumpet, you just press the pistons, but with a trombone, you have to determine the positions by relying on your ears to some extent.

That's right. However, when I went to observe, the older students didn't have a welcoming atmosphere. The kids I happened to be with said they were going to the brass band club, so I followed them. Since I had experience, I could produce a sound normally. Then they said, "You should definitely join!" So I used correction fluid to erase "Basketball Team" on my club application form and wrote "Brass Band Club" instead. That was the beginning of my destiny (laughs).

Not at all. Besides, at first, no one in the brass band club paid any attention to me. I would just space out every day, reading books and slacking off instead of practicing.

But one day, a senior from high school who had been studying abroad came back and was playing the trombone in the club room. When I heard the sound that senior made, I thought, "Ah, what is this?"

Yes. I still remember that moment very well. Then, around the winter of my first year of junior high, I suddenly got better. It felt like I could play anything, and it became fun.

I listened to solo CDs my seniors gave me, got my own sheet music to practice, and at the end of my third year of junior high, I entered the Kanagawa Music Competition for the first time. At that time, I didn't intend to become a trombonist, but that's how I got hooked.

Many things were fun, but because we rehearsed for months before a performance, the weight of a single performance was immense. Once you become a professional, you never rehearse for months. It's more like three days of rehearsal and then the performance.

So, the concert at graduation in my fourth year of university had an indescribable sense of tension and emotion. On stage, I thought it might be the most moving experience of my life. At that time, I didn't think I would ever perform with the Berlin Philharmonic. When I was in Berlin, I thought, "Oh, there was even more emotion here" (laughs).

It was physically busy because of experiments and such. But, though I might get in trouble for saying this, the Wagner Society practice area was in Hiyoshi and the Faculty of Science and Technology was in Yagami, so there was no loss of time (laughs).

I did image processing in Professor Toshiyuki Tanaka's lab, but I was a total dropout. Professor Tanaka is kind, so he didn't say anything too harsh, but I was terrible because I was doing nothing but music.

Until my year, there was no Department of Biosciences and Informatics, so I went to Professor Tomita's lab as part of the Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics. At that time, Professor Junichi Ushiba, who was an assistant, was a senior from my junior and senior high school brass band club. Since the Wagner Society was ending, I had a bit of enthusiasm to work hard on research for another two years since I was going to graduate school.

To begin with, my life has been a bit haphazard, and my study abroad in Vienna wasn't properly planned. Since I didn't go to a music university in Japan, I had no idea where to go or which teachers were where. There was no one to tell me. It wasn't a formal music study abroad program, but rather a language study program with the addition of lessons.

Anyway, I had a desire to go abroad once. In addition, since I had been playing the trombone, I thought I might somehow connect it with music. Thinking back now, it was a terrifyingly vague reason to study abroad.

A graduate student from the Keio Faculty of Science and Technology being in Vienna with a trombone made people think, "Who is that?" Even if I took private trombone lessons with that title, I had no performance opportunities and wasn't taken seriously. That's when I finally realized I had to enter a music university.

For that reason, I looked for a music university, and once I found one, I finished my study abroad program in Vienna and returned to Japan. One or two months later, I went to Germany again for the entrance exam. I passed, so as a result, I ended up dropping out of the graduate school of the Faculty of Science and Technology. In my life, I hadn't really "quit" something before, so I felt I had no choice but to work desperately hard on this new path. I think it was at this time that I made my "decision" or "resolve" for the path of music.

In Germany, to take an audition for a permanent position in an orchestra, you have to receive an invitation. To do that, you first need to study under a good teacher, and secondly, you need experience as an orchestra trainee.

The Berlin Philharmonic has a system called the Academy, and if you pass the audition, you can gain experience within the orchestra for two years as an academy student, or trainee. I took that audition and passed. When writing a resume, the more famous the name of the orchestra you've experienced, the better, so I was able to get into the best academy.

I did feel that to some extent. However, I knew that entering the Berlin Philharmonic Academy didn't necessarily mean I could get into a good orchestra, so I told myself that even after entering, I had to work hard to get into an orchestra on my own merit.

I didn't think about it much. The atmosphere in Europe suits me better, and I wanted to stay here. Also, I felt like I wouldn't be accepted in Japan for some reason.

That's a very difficult question, and I'm still searching for the answer. I think I'm drawn to it because the trombone is probably the instrument through which I can express music most easily.

On the other hand, precisely because I've been with the trombone for so long, I feel its difficulties in various ways. People don't usually listen to just the sound of a trombone. In an orchestra, it's like, "Did I just hear it?" However, once people hear it, they are surprised, saying, "Oh, it can make a sound like this." I'm always thinking about how to create opportunities for people to hear those various sounds.

It's said that the greatest charm of the trombone is its proximity to the human voice. But if anything, many people have an image of it as a shrill, not-so-pleasant sound.

I believe its charm lies in the fact that it's actually a very pleasant sound, capable of various expressions and having many variations in tone.

The number has been increasing recently. Right now, at the music student level, it's increasing a lot, and in Japan, there are probably more female students. In Germany, I think there are still more men.

I think the treatment of musicians in Germany is basically good compared to many other countries. Culture is recognized there, and it's a great nation for orchestras.

For example, in famous orchestras in Amsterdam, Paris, or London, salaries aren't relatively that high because the cost of living in those big cities is high. Germany is a bit special; the cost of living in the capital, Berlin, is low. It's been changing recently, but especially in the past, Berlin was exceptionally cheap to live in. So, not only members of the Berlin Philharmonic but also those belonging to other good orchestras can lead a fairly good life.

When you're in a principal position in an orchestra, you have to communicate with the conductor and sometimes summarize what the conductor says and what the people in your section are saying.

Even if you can understand the words, you have to be able to communicate properly with people, so that kind of thing is important.

Everyone is a collection of specialists in their respective instruments, and if you don't show them respect, some people might get grumpy, so I have to be quite careful in that regard.

What was good was that it led to my profession. During my junior and senior high school years, I was able to work hard at my club activities. I didn't have to be chased by entrance exam studies, and since it was a school with many returnees, looking back, many of the classes in junior and senior high were quite good. In an earth science test, I was given a single sheet of paper and asked just one question: to write about the mechanism of earthquakes. It was free, and I think it was a very good junior and senior high school where we learned the essence rather than just memorization.

However, I might have been unusual even within SFC. SFC kids go at their own pace and don't have much of a competitive spirit.

But I had a strong competitive spirit, so I said from early on that I would enter competitions, and my parents were exasperated. But I think there were some lukewarm parts during my university days. After coming to Vienna, I was truly desperate. I entered the Freiburg University of Music at 23, later than others, so I was anxious. I'm teaching at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig now, and many Germans are also laid back. Sometimes people come to music university at 22 after finishing their Abitur (secondary education) for no particular reason, which amazes me, but when I look back on my own university days, I think I was even more spoiled.

But in terms of how it was looking back at Keio, I think it was very good.

I suppose it's to find what you love. You shouldn't just play all the time, but "play" in a good sense is important. Like me, it might happen to lead to a profession. It's necessary to do school assignments properly at a minimum, but I think it would be good if you could find something else that you love.

No, no, I'm still moving forward while being lost in various ways.