3rd movement
Returning from the Dream Country

Returning from the Dream Country
It was around midnight when I called Japan from France with the news that I had
won the Besançon competition. It was on September 15th, a holiday in Japan.
Mass media, such as television and newspapers, ran the news with great
excitement. I did not know about it, since I was still in Besançon at that time.
In France, only local newspapers and television had reported the news.

I hadbeen staying in a hotel during the competition in Besançon. When I returned to
my friend’s house in Paris, I was hoping to take a nice bath and relax. That did
not happen because I got an international call from Japan. It was from Ms.
Takako Abe, a reporter from a newspaper in Nagoya, my home town.
She took the trouble to call me in Paris so that she could make a detailed reporton the competition. Actually I had met her long before studying abroad, but she
did not seem to remember me, because I was not even a conductor back then.
Ms. Abe told me that the news about my winning the competition had beenreported with excitement in Japan, which was a surprise to me. I think I asked
her back if it was something novel to win a competition. It was right before my
returning home. My brain had been full and in confusion. I wanted to enjoy therest of my stay in France, so I went shopping in Paris and so on.
By the way, I had been so preoccupied with music during my study abroad that I
had no interest in boutiques and fashion in Paris. I did not go to a beauty salon
but cut my hair by myself, with scissors. My hair was messy. When I called
my home in Japan, my mother gave me lots of advice. She said, “There will be
television reporters waiting for you at Narita Airport, so make sure to put on somemake-up.” I wondered what was happening and why. I felt as if, living awayfrom Japan for a year, my life time had been paused like Urashima Taro, aJapanese legend.

13rd movement
My Debut Concert

My Debut Concert
I finished my season of studying abroad in France for one year and three months.
Hard life waiting for me when I returned to Japan. While teaching as a part-time
instructor at the Department of Conducting at the Tokyo University of the Arts, I
needed to respond to various interviews from media reporters. They asked me
the same questions over and over based on the fact that I was a female conductor.
Their questions were like, “What are the handicaps as a woman?” “Why did you
become a conductor?” “What are the merits of being a female conductor?” I
received countless interviews and was given a big headline for being the 2ndJapanese winner of the International Besançon Competition, since Mr. Seiji
Ozawa.
In the midst of a great whirlpool, it was all I could do not to lose myself. I wasdesperate to remember what I had learned in Europe. Having read the news
reports about me, some friends even avoided me, suspecting unnecessarily that
I had changed. But I had not changed at all. I had just been to Europe for awhile.
Shortly after my return to Japan, a concert was held in Nagoya, my birth place,to commemorate my winning of the competition. For the concert I received thecordial support of the Chunichi Shimbun, a daily newspaper company, theChunichi Gekijo, a performing arts theater, and the Nagoya Philharmonic
Orchestra. I performed Ravel and Tchaikovsky, the same program as when I
had won the Besançon Competition. I was bewildered during the performance,
because I had not performed in Japan for a while. But I finished the concert
safely, thanks to warm support from many people.
I had my debut concert in Tokyo in March of the following year, with the Tokyo
Symphony Orchestra. Like the concert in Nagoya, I put together the programwith only French compositions that I liked. I conducted Ravel’s Ma mère l'Oye(Mother Goose), and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No.3. The audience might nothave been familiar with these pieces, since not many French compositions had
been performed in Japan, but I was committed to play more French compositions.
I was under a lot of pressure for this debut concert. People asked me how I
1

3rd movement
My Debut Concert

would put my eagerness into this concert, how I would demonstrate mypersonality, and so on. Nothing had changed in my own attitude toward a
concert. I valued this concert just as any of the other concerts I had conducted,
except that I had had the competition between them. I contacted Professor
Dervaux, and he advised me, “Keep conducting, no matter what happens.”
What impressed me after the competition was that in Japan, people tend to makeconclusions hastily. People come to the concert of a conductor who has won acompetition to determine how good the conductor really is. And they try to makea quick conclusion whether the conductor is good or bad. Why don’t they lookat the conductor’s promising future instead?
A conductor has to be able to handle any composition and he or she cannot have
any taste over one song or another. I was taught that. But naturally the
conductor is good at one composition but not good at another one. And the
conductor’s personality comes out through such differences.
I like Frenchmusic and songs with their bright melodies and rhythm. And I love operas andoften conduct operas.
I would say, I do not really care for German music, like Beethoven and Brahms,
which require strong and heavy sounds. I love to listen to the music, but it does
not work well if I perform them. That is because I have love motivation within
me to create such sounds.
Somehow, I am connected to bright melodies, delicate sounds, and music withlight rhythms. Perhaps, that was because I have been thoroughly inspired by
the national characters of France, Italy and Spain.
sounds and tones with brightness and color.

2

I will continue to pursue

3rd movement
Mediterranean Concert on the Sea

Mediterranean Concert on the Sea
One time I participated in Yamaha’s Junior Original Concert on the Mediterranean
Ocean with young musicians. We spent one week touring around several cities
on the Mediterranean ocean on a large cruise ship, and having concerts both on
the ship as well as at the ports of call.
Ms. Yuzuko Horigome, a violinist, had played in this cruise concert tour before,
and she told me that the ocean was very still like a mirror, and the ship would not
swing, and I would not have any trouble. So I accepted the invitation withoutworry. The cruise ship would leave at Toulon, a city in southern France, andhead for its 1st destination, Tunisia. We left Toulon in the evening and had agorgeous dinner on the ship.
A chamber orchestra from Côte d'Azur was also on the cruise tour, and theorchestra and we decided to have a concert together. Grigory Sokolov, a young
pianist, another violinist, and the members of the Hagen Quartet were also on
board. There was a swimming pool on the cruise ship, and most of thepassengers were there to enjoy their free time after spending the seasons ofbusyness.
On the evening of the 1st day, somehow the cruise ship started rolling and pitching.
The swing got worse at night, and even though I was lying on the bed, I could not
sleep. I could hear the waves crashing against the ship with loud booms. I
even saw my clothing hung in the guest room swinging like a seesaw. I thought
this wasn’t what I had been told.
What happened to the quiet ocean? I ended up welcoming the next morning
without much sleep. The staff said that strong winds must have caused suchrough waves, which was groundless. We felt betrayed because we had believedthat the ship would be completely smooth once it was on the ocean. The swings
continued every night.
We had to rehearse on the ship, so we began in the midst of swinging. I madea joke that I could not cast the baton straight. A violin player said that he could
play a vibrato without moving his hand, and he showed it to us. What we had
13rd movement
Mediterranean Concert on the Sea

seen was nothing but the sea. In the middle of the rehearsal, a viola player
suddenly stood up and shouted loudly, “I see an island!” Everybody stood up
and looked at the island, interrupting the rehearsal. This made me think thatthey were French. We merrily took group photos together on the deck, and ateach port of call. But when we were stopped in Sicily, we were advised to watch
our belongings, just in case the mafia were around. How unsafe it was!
Combining sightseeing at several cities and music performance, it was quite a
fun tour. But we had hard time with the swing on the cruise ship. As I lookback, it was the beginning of the unusual weather of the summer of 1983.

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3rd movement
Salzburg, Brussels and Vienna

Salzburg, Brussels and Vienna
The summer of Europe in 1983 was abnormal. In France, the temperature roseclose to 40 degrees. There was a thunderstorm every day, and lightning caused
much damage. I was spending my summer vacation in the suburb of Paris, but
the extreme heat exhausted me and I did not desire to do anything. They said
that the heat waves from the African Continent were hitting France.
This year I set out for Salzburg to tour Europe with the Ochanomizu Orchestra.
We had an outdoor concert on the eve of the Salzburg Festival. Because thesun does not go down much in Europe, we had a hard time performing outside.
In Vienna, we had to go inside a church to avoid the heat and to rest. But welivened up our performance by wearing matsuri hanten, traditional Japanesefestival dress, and received applause from a large audience. After I finished thesummer tour with the orchestra, I left for Belgium to perform another concert in
September.
Brussels was a city very similar to Paris. I came to this city to conduct theBrussels Radio Symphony Orchestra on the French side. Both French andFlemish languages were spoken in this area. When I first arrived, I met a lady
at a restaurant who said to me, “The orchestra here is terrible.”
I did not understand what she meant. The first day of our rehearsal ended withno problem. The next morning, I went to the hall early to prepare for the next
rehearsal which was to start on 9 A.M. only to be surprised that no one was there.
Orchestra members in Japan would have arrived early already and been playing
their instruments. About 5 minutes passed after 9 A.M., and the members of theorchestra started arriving to the rehearsal, without showing any sense of guilt on
their faces for being late.
I wondered what in the world this orchestra was. I desperately used the rest of
the rehearsal fully. Then I heard that several conductors had even cancelledtheir contracts to perform with this orchestra.
One of the orchestra members said to me, “If you stayed with us for six moremonths, how much better this orchestra would become!” I left Belgium behind
13rd movement
Salzburg, Brussels and Vienna

after the concert. I had had enough. I understood why the lady at therestaurant had said, “Terrible.” This orchestra does not exist anymore today.
I had visited Vienna before. I had visited this city for a short time when I was
studying abroad. I could not do much but visit some architectures and watch
opera then. This time I visited this city to see my school fellow, Hiroyuki Odano,
who was studying there. I spent two weeks watching operas and orchestras.
Surely this city was a music city. But it did not have as much energy as Paris,
which was too bad.
I also tried to visit the museum in the Belvedere Palace several times because I
wanted to see the paintings of Gustav Klimt, who was active at the end of the lastcentury. The museum had been always closed wherever I visited the museum.
I was thrilled with joy when I was finally able to see his paintings.
Klimt’s paintings had powerful impact, compared to the works by French painters.
I felt that the art works at the end of the 19th century were very different from theones at the end of the 18th century in terms of their esthetic senses. It was as if
they had tried to lock up the decadent beauty forever in their dreams. Vienna
seemed to be at sleep in quietness.

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3rd movement
Performing Art of Opera

Opera, the Performing Art
Because the “Opera” performance at the university festival led me to pursue mycareer as a conductor, I might have had some kind of interest in opera.
But I did not have many opportunities to watch operas at Tokyo University of theArts, and it did not happen to me then that the scene of an opera would appear
in my mind when I just looked at the score. I was rather more interested inorchestral works like symphony music, and I did not even think about studying
opera.
My interest in opera grew when I went to study abroad in France and encounteredmany opera performances there. I not only watched many opera performances
in Paris, but made sure to watch opera whenever I visited another European
country as well.
One day, I went to Théâtre du Châtelet to see an operetta, Gaîté Parisienne,
composed by Jacques Offenbach. I had rarely seen an operetta before.
Operetta is a form of performing arts. It was a predecessor to a musical, which
had both singing and dancing. The lines of the play were in French, of course.
I was able to see the operetta from the very front seat. It was then that I saw
the cancan right in front of my eyes. I had seen pictures, but did not know how
they would dance. It was gorgeous to see the female dancers in costumes withlong skirts and colorful petticoats, running and high kicking.
Since I came back to Japan, I have been blessed with opportunities to conduct
operas. I had my opera debut in 1984 with the Nikikai, and conducted The Merry
Widow, composed by Franz Lehár. I did not expect to conduct the cancan that
I had seen in Paris.
I reminisced the operetta that I had seen in Paris as I conducted the operetta inJapan. I was honored to work with Mr. Sumito Tachikawa and Ms. Yuko
Shimada. I could not help watching these two singers acting and singing withadmiration. Being fascinated with their lines, I almost forgot where to start themusic.
1

3rd movement
Performing Art of Opera

When there was a stage tour of The Merry Widow, I conducted the operetta
several times. When Melanie Holliday, one of Vienna’s celebrated opera singers,
came to Japan, I conducted several operettas with her.
Later I visited Vienna and saw Melanie. She was singing at the Vienna
Volksoper. The memory in the past came back to me. It made me envious thatdifferent operas were performed daily in Vienna and Berlin. I wished thisperforming art could become more familiar in Japan.

2

3rd movement
Ashiya Symphony Orchestra

Ashiya Symphony Orchestra
Encounter is a mystery. I was invited to conduct Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for
the Ashiya Symphony Orchestra’s concert, in place of Mr. Tadashi Mori, a
conductor, who had suddenly passed away.
I had conducted various amateur orchestras, but this orchestra is something else,
because the members of the orchestra are unique. Over a hundred members
gather together in Ashiya. Each of them has a career and comes to the city forrehearsal on weekends. Many of them open their instrument cases just on thatweekend. Some of them have been transferred to the Osaka area for their jobs.
Many members have played with their college orchestras. They still remember
their happy memories of those college days, and have not stopped some of theirwild customs. They drink in the evening, wherever they go to a training camp.
And just as other amateur orchestras, they have more fun drinking than practicing.
People often think of orchestra as gloomy. But this orchestra is cheerful with nolimit. I have been attracted to their cheerfulness, and the unity shown at their
parties. Surely they are musically good. This year we had a performing tour inEurope.
We had a concert at the same hall where I had seen Professor Ken-Ichiro
Kobayashi’s concert in East Berlin. This visit to Berlin was 10 years after myfirst visit. It brought back lots of memories from my study abroad, but I saw how
Germany had been changing drastically since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I
especially noticed the heavy and dark atmosphere of the old Berlin was nowhere
to be seen. Who could ever have imagined the changes that European nations
have gone through in the last 10 years? I regarded this trip as the most joyful
trip that I had ever had in my life.
The members of the Ashiya Symphony Orchestra drink at a drinking place inAshiya, “A-Ru-Chu (alcoholic),” after their weekend rehearsal. As they drink
together, they talk over their own lives and sometimes over music. Some people
have given me good advice. I have a good time with them, and enjoy our time
together. I want to perform with this orchestra for a very long time, even when I
1

3rd movement
Ashiya Symphony Orchestra

become old with my shaking hands.

2

3rd movement
Woman of Passion on the Conductor Stand

Woman of Passion on the Conductor Stand
August 30th, 1993
Newspaper report by Werner Schöne of Neue Zeit
Last year, many Japanese orchestras performed in Berlin and other cities inGermany. This time as well, an ambassador of music from the Far East visited
Berlin and held a concert. The ambassador was the Ashiya SymphonyOrchestra. It is not among the top ranked professional organizations, because
this organization is made up of amateur musicians. Ashiya City, the orchestra’s
home ground, is a city with a population of about 87, 000, located between Osakaand Kobe. There are many female members in this orchestra, and Ms. Yoko
Matsuo, also a woman, stands on the podium as the conductor of the orchestra.
She was trained under Mr. Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, whom we know well, and thenstudied music at a conservatory in Paris. In addition, she won an international
competition for conductors in 1982 (as the first woman ever). As for her career
so far, she conducted celebrated orchestras in Japan, and also performed
Carmen, composed by Bizet, and La Traviata by Verdi in Osaka and Tokyo.
Yasushi Akudagawa, a composer (1925-1989), is greatly contributed to raising
the Ashiya Symphony Orchestra to the top class among amateur organizations.
When he became its Music Director in 1977, the orchestra received its first formal“training” from him. This organization, which started in 1967 with only 7
members as a civic organization, kept striving for many years and became
successful, holding regular performances. It invited Mr. Toru Inaniwa of theCentury Orchestra Osaka as its trainer for string instruments, and Mr. Nozomu
Machinaga for wind instruments. They have also contributed to the growth ofthe orchestra.
In Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique, the elegant sounds that the wind instruments
created, especially the solo clarinet and the brass instruments, were superb.
The string instruments stood out in their pleasant resonance, especially the bass
sounds. In the 2nd movement, the Tutti performance of the string instruments
had the sense of intensity and was impressive. The orchestra was highly
elevated at the end of the 3rd movement, and at the last movement was filled withsorrow, and many in the audience were moved to tears. The orchestra
13rd movement
Woman of Passion on the Conductor Stand

performed Mozart’s Ave Maria as an encore, but it was not as impressive because
it was right after the Tchaikovsky piece.
In Liszt’s Les Préludes, performed at the very beginning, the brass instruments’einsatz with extraordinary powerful tutti, after following moments of reflective
pause. This was also impressive. Then, this work was followed by a Japanesecomposition of this century, Triptyque for String Orchestra by Akutagawa, itsMusic Director.

The orchestra performed this composition with dedication to

Akutagawa, who had taught the members as his students, “Amateur music is theright path of music.” It was performed with the sincerity of music that Akutagawa
had imagined in this piece. This piece lively began with a serenade allegro, andits finale was dynamic and colorful. The pizzicatos were effective as well.
The orchestra’s exciting and enthusiastic concert will continue to Vienna, and the
Haydnsaal at Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt.

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3rd movement
Exceptionally European JapaneseJapanese Woman Who Is Exceptionally “European”
April 29th, 1993
Newspaper report by Wolfgang Schulze of Berliner Morgenpost
We had a pleasant group of guests from the Far East, the Ashiya SymphonyOrchestra. The orchestra, which was on its concert tour of Europe, had a concert
at the Schauspielhaus Berlin. It was named after the city of Ashiya, its homeground, which is located between Osaka and Kobe. And this orchestra is not a
professional orchestra. These 80 members are young amateur people, devoted
to music with demonstration of their control, technique, and musical sense somuch so that they might make us wonder if they are pursuing to be an orchestra
here in Berlin.
These young people were conducted by a lady. The lady, Yoko Matsuo gave
the impression of, in a good way, a pack of energy. It did not impress somethingmasculine, nor something to appeal equal rights for both men and women, either.
Filled with confidence, she went to stand on the conductor stand, anddemonstrated her perfect control to direct with her baton. Such control fully fittedwith its first program, Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem, Les Préludes, which was
performed appropriately as it should be. This musical ode of life toward death
was performed smoothly and pleasantly in a way that was free from a morass ofpathos.
When Japanese orchestras come on tour, most of them include contemporary
works of their homeland in their performance programs. This orchestra is not
the exception. If you listen to the first passage of Yasushi Akutagawa’s Triptyquefor String Orchestra, you would notice something and bend your ears more
carefully. It is not using any Oriental modes, and it is not contemporary, nor
experiential, either. Unless the name of this Japanese was written on the cover
page of the music score, this composition with three movements would be
mistaken as a work by a European composer.
Obviously in the first movement Allegro, Yasuhi Akutagawa is aware of the workby Bartók, which was composed with the same format. And the short andslightly sentimental Andante has the feeling of Rachmaninoff’s music. Then, the1

3rd movement
Exceptionally European Japanese

nimble Presto sounds like tracing Shostakovich’s footprints. It may not soundup-to-date, but you can listen to this music composition of three movements withfull comfort. Without doubt it is a work for a string orchestra powerfully
expressing the joy of music.
After the intermission, the orchestra performed the Symphony No. 6 in B Minor,
Pathétique, which terrified us at first. Did this organization take its effort to travel
thousands of kilometers from the Far East just to give us an opportunity to listen
to our daily bread (western music)? However, if you listen to these young people
performing this musical bread of ours, a hard piece to play even today as well,with such excellence and with no effort, you may understand and even be moreastounded. In their performance, they not only showed their “good will” but also
demonstrated their goodness of functionality in every part of the orchestra. And
their conductor, with her thoroughly refined interpretation which was also wellconstructed, drew out how skillfully they performed Tchaikovsky, or how correctly
they interpreted him.

2

3rd movement
Wine and I

Wine and I
I wonder when I became fond of wine. Perhaps I learned the taste while
studying abroad in Paris. That was because, when I was in Paris, I had wine
virtually every night. A friend of mine, who visited me in Paris back then, wassurprised to see a line of empty wine bottles in my apartment.
Many French foods go well with wine.

Cheese is an example, and wine isindispensable with any cooking. The habit I learned in France has not changed
since returning to Japan. In my house, we drink wine even when we eat
Japanese food. And we drink nothing but red wine. Whenever I make a trip
for a concert, I always look for wine.
The other day, a French couple who were vising my house were surprised. They
had looked after me when I was studying in Paris, but they didn’t even dreamabout having French wine at a Japanese table every day.
Sure, they enjoyed drinking Japanese sake, but after it all, we came back to wine.
And they ended up drinking wine in my house every night.
My French friends have taught me various family French recipes. Formal foods
with delicious sauces are not the only French foods. At home, people cook avariety of food like stewing beef with vegetables, and cooking beef in the oven.
French people talk very much during meal time. And they take a long timeenjoying the food. When I cannot keep up with their conversations in French, I
would eat or drink. So I end up quickly getting drunk alone. Perhaps talking
loud is helpful for quick digestion. I don’t know when they eat while talking, butthey do eat skillfully.
I once visited a wine brewery in France. I was amazed at how large-scale it was.
At another time I helped my friend at the friend’s house to fill bottles with winesbought by several liters. I had thought that wine was something to drink, so I did
not dream that it was something to fill in bottles. I had to cork each bottle wellso that no air might be in the bottle. I enjoyed filling the bottles with wine. They
said that they would let the wine sit for several years to take time to enjoy it. For
1

3rd movement
Wine and I

me, a wine lover, that was a pleasant work.

2

3rd movement
Concert for Mutual Touch

Concert for Mutual Touch
When summer vacation starts, orchestras in Japan have family concerts forchildren and their parents in various locations. A variety of fun events areplanned for the purpose of letting children experience classical music. I haveconducted countless family concerts in Tokyo and around the city. Among them,
the Fureai (mutual touch) Concert, sponsored by the Kyushu Electric Power
Company, has impressed me. This year will be the 8th concert since they started
it.
Every summer, the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra and I tour all the prefectures in
Kyushu. We avoid big cities. Instead, we visit towns where there aren’t many
chances to have an orchestra concert. Because the Kyushu Electric Company
is its sponsor, we issue numbered tickets, and each attendant will pay 300 yen
as donation to the Counsel of Social Welfare. The concerts have been very
successful, even with standees. Though they are held in the midst of thesummer heat, the musicians are quite serious about meeting such an expectation.
Children, who have never seen an orchestra performance in their lives, gaze at
the stage with their eyes wide open. I hear that many mothers try to control theircrying children, but are reluctant to leave their seats, despite the trouble that they
are making to other seats. That is because the program of the concert is notplanned for children. With thoughtfulness, the program has been selected froma wide range of music motives, instead of just educational.
We perform a piece by a 20th century composer, as well as Beethoven’s 5th
Symphony, Fate. So even adults can enjoy our program filled with variation.
That is why the adults do not want to leave their seats. There is a story about afarmer, who came to the concert by bicycle after working in the fields, during theintermission called his family members on the phone and invited them, “Thisconcert is very fun, so why don’t you come now?”
We have also been to Amami Oshima, Hime Jima (in Oita), and Amakusa. In
some towns in these islands, a fine concert hall is built on the path between rice
fields. We visited Shimabara twice, but I was deeply distressed at the sight of
volcanic ashes piled up around the hall.
1

3rd movement
Concert for Mutual Touch

After finishing our program, we perform a folk song from the region, or a piece
tied to the region, with the orchestra. Those songs are sometimes ondo (worksong) or songs sung in the local area, and other times we play songs that haveexisted in Kyushu for centuries, such as Otemoyan and Koroda-Bushi.
And as a finale, we end with the Radetzky March by Strauss, while clapping
hands together throughout the hall.

And at every concert, I found myself

stepping down from the stage and clapping hands together with the audience.
Some of the audience hold my hand tightly and never let me go, with an
expression of thankfulness in their faces.
Truly, this is the mutual touch. When I see the smile in each person’s face, allof the discomfort of the heat and the labor of rehearsals are blown away. As I
bow on the stage at the end, I am truly thankful that I decided to become aconductor.

2

3rd movement
Dress to Wear

Dress to Wear
People often ask me, “Is there any reason that you do not wear a skirt when you
conduct?” It is not that I don’t like to wear skirts. I do wear skirts in my daily
life, but I prefer to conduct with pants because these are easier to move aroundin.
When I am conducting, I keep my legs wide for balance and strength.

Highheeled shoes are not good, because they wobble. And if I wore a long skirt andmoved around on the conductor stand, I would not be able to see my steps andit would make me nervous. It would be fine if I moved less, but I cannot keep
still when I conduct an orchestra. And, at the worst, if I conducted a fast temp
piece with a long skirt, the skirt would be swinging slowly, while my baton was
moving differently.
I have great trouble with concert dress. A man can just wear a tailcoat, but awoman cannot wear the male clothes. I am always at a loss how to make afunctional and yet elegant dress. My mother has been sewing dresses by handfor me. Many times, I have requested her to make a new dress right before aconcert, and she would finish making it just an hour before the concert started.
It gets really hot during a concert, so we have to use materials for the dress thatabsorb sweat well. And the arm area needs to be loose so that I can move freely.
I make lots of concert tours and carry my dress along, so we cannot use materials
that wrinkle easily.
On many occasions I wear a black dress to match those in the orchestra, but
depending on the concert program, I also wear blue or green. Especially when
I conduct a French composition, I intentionally wear a dress with a lighter color,because a black dress would be too heavy and thick.
When I conduct for several days in a row, I wear various dresses, which, I heard,
makes the members of the orchestra wonder what color of dress I will wear eachtime. And, it is hard work to keep thinking of new styles. I often talk with mymother about this, but it seems there is a huge gap between our ideal and thereality. Nevertheless, my mother and I enjoy the time of talking and planning1

3rd movement
Dress to Wear

together what style and color of dress we should prepare for the next concert.

2

3rd movement
Rain Comes After Me

Rain Chases After Me
People joke about a woman, called Ame Onna, or a man, called Ame Otoko, whoalways causes it to rain.
my own concerts.

To me, this is not a joke, because this directly affects

It has rained many times on the dates of my concerts, making me wish I had
checked the statistics for rain on those dates. During rehearsals we have been
blessed with good weather. Then, on the very day of the performance, about
the time when I am leaving home, it gets cloudy. Before long, it starts raining indrops. So, I consider myself Ame Onna.
The audience who comes to my concerts gets the most trouble. I go to theconcert hall, feeling sorry for those who have come in formal dress. If the rain
is light with a few drops, that is fine. But there have been times of severe
conditions.
When I had my debut concert in Tokyo after returning from France, it was raining
from the morning on that day. I had no time to appreciate the spring rain as ahaiku poet. By the time the concert had finished with great success, the rainoutside the concert hall had turned into a heavy storm.
The next storm happened in Paris. I had my concert at the Théâtre desChamps-Élysées (on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which extends from the
Arc of Triumph). It was at the end of November, which is usually mild weather
in Paris. But by the time I left for the theater, it had begun raining, as I had
expected. Back then I just thought the weather was a little bit strange. The
concert was supposed to begin after 8:30 P.M. Around 8 P.M., the rain had
turned into snow, and there was heavy traffic, especially around the Arc of
Triumph. We had to delay the concert for 20 minutes late. When the concert
was over, the sky was clear with stars. There was no sign of storm.
So, I have experienced all of thunder, snow, and windstorms during my stormy
concerts. I have given up wanting good luck for weather. Typhoon storms
have even hit my concerts two or three times every summer while I have been in
Kyushu.
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3rd movement
Rain Comes After Me

I apologize to the audience that the bad weather on the concert day is thoroughly
my fault.
So, ladies and gentlemen, you may forget flowers for my concert, but please
remember to bring your umbrellas with you.

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3rd movement
My Relationship with the Choral

My Relationship with Beethoven’s Choral
How many conductors have refused to conduct Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, theChoral? The Choral is performed in various places all over Japan as a traditionat the end of each year.
Both conductors and orchestras in Japan have no choice but to perform thissymphony. It requires quite a lot of mental and physical strength. Especially inthe 4th movement, when soloist singers and the chorus join the orchestra. In
addition to all this, Beethoven persistently demands powerful sounds throughout
the movement.
After I conducted the Choral several times, I felt that I could not create the sounds
that Beethoven demands in this piece. I even thought about not accepting
another offer to conduct the Choral again. But the chorus part on the 4th
movement literally saved me. I love operas and it has been a joy for me toperform with the chorus together. Thanks to the mutual touch that I have withthe people in the chorus at the concert, I have conducted the Choral many time
up to today.
I have moments when I am musically touched, regardless of the skills of thechorus. In the chorus part of the Choral, lyrics that mean, “All people become
brothers and sisters” appear many times. As I conduct, while watching eachface of the chorus, I often fail to see the faces because of the tears in my eyes.
The chorus part of this composition moves me in such an extent.
I always face each concert of the Choral, thinking that it would be my last
performance. But I cannot get rid of the deep impression this symphony has onme, and I end up accepting another opportunity to perform the Choral.
The Choral and I have unusual relationship with one another.

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3rd movement
Teaching

Teaching
Currently I am a part-time instructor at the Department of Conducting at the Tokyo
University of the Arts. I have been doing this since 1982 when I returned from
France. It has already been 10 years.
When I returned to Japan, I had many chances to conduct student orchestras.
Then the number of my students of the Department of Conducting gradually grew.
I wanted to value the way of free expression that I had learned from France,
because each student has a distinct character, and there should be conducting
methods suitable for each of them.
I have witnessed in France how music becomes distorted when a conductor
conforms himself or herself into one conventional form to be well-shaped andfunctional. Instead, I regard un-skilled ways of conducting, thinking first what I
want to express, over techniques.
Sometimes my students and I gather together to drink. They really help me with
operas and other works. I believe the best lesson is learned together on theactual field, so they are blessed with these opportunities to work. One student
said to me once, “It is the beginning of a tragedy that you are a woman, isn’t it,
Sensei?” He made the joke when he saw me wearing an apron, sweating to
make lots of dishes that I was not used to cooking. I wanted to bless thesestudents of mine.
Some of them are close to 30 years old, and they often think of marriage. Whentwo students of mine decided to be married with one another, they asked me,“Would you kindly arrange a wedding for us?” I found myself answering with asmile, “Sure.” These students pursue to be conductors at much younger ages
than when I decided to become a conductor. Time has changed and today it is
far more difficult to become a conductor. They may feel worried about less
opportunities to conduct orchestras, as well. I sincerely desire that they may
keep their passion for music, and take their time studying.

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3rd movement
Painting a Picture

Painting
During my study abroad in France, I frequently visited art museums. This musthave influenced me, because I am an ardent fan of visual arts now. Especially,
I am fascinated by the paintings of French impressionists.
I have visited many places in order to look at Monet’s paintings. In his series ofthe Water Lilies at the Impressionist Museum as well as at the Musée del'Orangerie, Monet expresses lights of innocence through faint color changes. I
am amazed by it.
Though I looked at paintings, I never thought about picking up a brush and paint.
My parents often painted pictures, so I had many opportunities to give critiques
to their paintings. But I had no desire to paint one. No matter how impressivea scene might look, I never tried keeping the scene on a canvas. I was notinterested in painting at all.
Then one day, out of the blue, I drew a watercolor painting. I did it to display atan art exhibition. Without knowing any technique, I just faced a canvas (910 cm
x 727 cm) and painted by following the examples of others. I painted a still-life
painting titled, Curtain Call. I only had a strong image of what I wanted to paintin my mind. Colors and techniques were secondary. How fearlessly did I paintit! Amazingly, the painting was prized with a recognition (public exhibition by
Daichokai), which I never thought would be possible.
Music is such a temporary thing.

It is an art that does not last as an object.

Ofcourse we could record it on a tape or in a video. But we cannot enjoy themusical experience unless we are present at the moment when the music was
performed. Having pondered that for a long while, I had a desire to makesomething that would last for a long time. And painting made me envious ofpaintings. On a white canvas we could create everything by ourselves. This
inspired me. I thought it was wonderful to express my heart on the canvas,
however poor the painting may be. That was why I began thinking of painting
just as a hobby.

13rd movement
Mr. Katsuzo Entsuba, a Sculptor

Katsuzo Entsuba, Master Sculptor
One day I got a phone call from a friend of mine, who said that a sculptor wanted
me to be a model for his sculpture. And he was going to display it at a public
exhibition.
I found out that Mr. Entsuba wanted to make a sculpture based on a female
conductor. So I did not waste any time meeting him. I was conducting a joint
concert by the student glee clubs of Waseda, Keio, Kansei Gakuin and Doshisha
Universities, and Mr. Entsuba took time to come to the rehearsal to meet me.
I knew that a sculpture was a three-dimensional art, but I did not realize that asculptor needed to make a 360 degrees model of the figure, not just the front
picture of the figure.
Once I visited Mr. Entsuba’s art studio. That was my first time to see the studioof a sculptor, and I was amazed at how big the studio was. Surely the sculptor
needed a large studio in order to work on such a large 7 meter long sculpture.
His works were lined up in groups in his studio. Mr. Entsuba took time to explain
each of them to me one by one,r such as what made him to create this work, andwhere that work was displayed. He remembered every work of art.
All of his sculptures involved motion and his ideas were unique. Among his
works on dreams, I was especially touched by Dream, Dream, Dream (1978),and Tune in the Morning (1983). Once, he had received the Order of Culture.
He was 88 years old, yet his drive for creativity had not changed, and his passion
for his scripture work was unbelievable. My age was less than half of his. Aftermeeting with him, I regretted that I had felt difficulty over concerts.
I saw what an artist was supposed to be in Mr. Entsuba, whose life work was toleave good works to generations to come, while moving forward. He gave me
his autograph with a note, “Live while appreciating taste and nuance.” His
continuous activity is my motivation to keep striving as a conductor.

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3rd movement
Warmhearted Encouragement

Warmhearted Encouragement
Shortly after returning from France, I was granted an award titled The Tokai
Television Award from the Tokai Television and Broadcasting Company in
Nagoya. The company gave me the award as an encouragement for my win at
the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors.
In the following year of 1983, I received another award, The Avon Awards to
Women as artists.

Those awards are given to women who are active in various

fields such as art culture, sports and nature, and they encourage women tocontinue to be active. Ms. Fusae Ichikawa was the very first recipient of theGrand Award of the Avon awards. Since then, I have been in a close
relationship with the Ichikawa Fusae Memorial Center and receive words ofwarmhearted encouragement from them. I feel very encouraged by the supportof many women.
A woman of great experience in the society gave me a word, “Career is power.”
I have been burdened by what it means to keep following the path of my choicesince then.

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3rd movement
Fun Friends

Fun Friends
One time I organized an orchestra to perform an opera, and I asked the alumniof the Tokyo University of the Arts to come.
I had known them since they were studying at the university. I used to conduct
their student orchestra. I think we had performed Verdi’s opera, La Traviata
back then.

When the alumni got together, they became a very pleasantorchestra. We had a fun time performing the opera. We also performed
Hamlet composed by Thomas, and Rossini’s L'occasione fa il ladro (the very first
performance in Japan).
In addition, we performed as Yoko Matsuo and Her Friends at the grand opening
concert of the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in 1992. Because the ages of the members
are close to each other, we cannot stop once we get excited. One of themembers once said to me, “Next time, we want you to name the orchestra, “YokoMatsuo and Her Fun Friends.”
I want to keep playing music with such friends.

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3rd movement
Nerima City, My City

Nerima, My City
It has been 13 years since I began residing in Shakujii in Nerima Ward. Shakujii
Park is just around the corner from my house. Lots of green and some fields
still remain in this area. It is a quiet residential area in the midst of a big city.
There is a civic orchestra in Nerima Ward. The Nerima Symphony Orchestra
was founded in the year when I returned from France. Having the Nerima
Culture Center as its base, the orchestra practices diligently to be an importantpart of the culture in Nerima Ward and I am granted the title of Music Advisor forthis orchestra. Since this is the orchestra of the city where I live, I am hoping
this orchestra to become active.
This year, as a part of the Nerima Culture Center’s 10th year anniversary, we areplanning to perform an opera, Carmen. Whenever I conduct this opera, mymemories of France pass before my eyes.
Living in such a gigantic city like Tokyo, it is hard work not to lose sight ofourselves in the midst of overwhelming information. I also see it is important to
pay more attention to the culture of the city where I live.

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3rd movement
Mademoiselle is the Chef

Mademoiselle is the Chef
People often ask me, “It is difficult for you, a woman, to be an orchestral conductor,
isn’t it?” Sure, I live under unfavorable conditions in today’s male-oriented
society, and many things do not go as I want. But the reason that I wanted to
become a conductor was not to gain authority. I decided to pursue conducting,because I wanted to express orchestral music.
My mentor, the late Professor Akeo Watanabe left me a beautiful word. “Whena scary conductor or a stubborn conductor performs with an orchestra, theorchestra becomes nervous and tries hard to perform. But a great conductor
makes each member of the orchestra desire to play warmhearted and wonderfulmusic, simply by coming to stand on the podium.”I always desire to be told, “I was glad to come to your concert,” rather than, “It
was a wonderful concert.”
Music is not a fight. Surely it is not something fretful, either. I want to be a
conductor to tell people how wonderful music is. I want to be CHEF D’
ORCHESTRE, who is considerate and kind in delicacy. I want to keep my own
tones, and perform music that is always bright and radiant.
Why do I want to do it? Because Mademoiselle is the Chef.

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