Music holds no barriers for blind pianist

March 6, 2013, the Coloradan, Written by Stacy Nick

This interview originally appeared at  http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20130307/ENTERTAINMENT04/303070009 with photo below shown via Internet link

(photo caption: Blind since birth, pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii was the gold medal winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.)

Blind since birth, pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii — who will perform Wednesday at Lincoln Center — said “there are no barriers in the field of music.”

His career is a testament to that statement.

At age 2, Tsujii already was striking chords on a toy piano. At 4, he began his formal piano training. At 21, he received the gold medal at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. Cliburn, who once called Tsujii’s playing “miraculous,” died last week of cancer.

As a musician and composer, Tsujii has since captured the ears and hearts of audiences around the globe. Tsujii did an interview with the Coloradoan via translator Masako Beecken, talking about music, inspiration and the recent passing of his mentor.

Question: What led you to play the piano and how old were you when you began?

Answer: When I was 8 months old, my mother played a CD of a collection of pieces by Chopin. According to my mother, when I heard “Heroique,” I became quite excited and happily kicked my legs.

After awhile, the CD became worn out so my mother bought another CD that contained another version of Chopin’s Polonaise Op. 53 “Heroique.” However, this time I apparently showed no excitement and just lay there quietly.

My mother wondered why, and after some investigation, she found that the second version of the piece was played by a different pianist. So she bought another copy of the first CD she had played for me. When that CD was played I once again became very excited and happy. It was then that my mother sensed that I was able to tell differences in music.

When I was 2 years old, my mother bought me a toy piano. I was not taught how to play it, but I started to accompany my mother’s singing, using both hands to beautifully play the melody and chords, according to my mother. When I was 4 years old, I started to play on a real piano.

I believe that I became one with the piano when I was born, and I feel that it is only natural to express myself through the piano.

Q: Are there any composers whose music you especially like to perform?

A: Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff... my list goes on forever. I have especially been drawn to Chopin and Beethoven. Chopin’s romantic emotional expressions touch a chord within me.

Despite his hearing impairment, Beethoven composed numerous memorable pieces of great music. As someone who is visually handicapped, I empathize with and greatly admire Beethoven.

Q: When learning a new piece, do you use braille or just your ear? Is it difficult memorizing so much music?

A: I used to use braille score sheets but they are bulky and it was very time-consuming for me to understand them, so I stopped using them when I was in middle school. Since then, I’ve been using a method that was uniquely developed by my teacher to enable me to learn by ear.

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that I learn just by ear by listening to music. My method is completely different.

Q: You won the Van Cliburn medal in 2009, Cliburn passed away last week. Did you ever get the chance to personally meet him?

A: The first time I met Mr. Cliburn was during the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in May 2009. He was tall and slender. I remember how nice and soft his hand was when I shook hands with him. He gave me the impression of being a very sensitive, gentle, soft-spoken and dignified person.

Later, he came to my concerts when I performed in Texas. He also came to my recital at Carnegie Hall in New York and we had dinner together. He was very cheerful and looked fine. I knew he was fighting cancer, but when I visited him at his home on Feb. 2 this year, he welcomed me in person at the door and we spent a great deal of time talking together.

Since I won the gold medal, I’ve performed in many different locations in the US. At many places, Mr. Cliburn’s recital posters from many years ago are still proudly posted. When I talked to people who sponsored Mr. Cliburn’s recitals or piano tuners, they all talked very proudly about the times when they worked together with Mr. Cliburn. It made me realize again how much he was loved and respected by everyone.