Last night’s concert was fun, not just because of the stunning music, but also for some rather yassuan moments that had everyone smiling. We performed a fantastic selection of pieces:

1. Saint-Saëns’ Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah.
2. Dvořák’s 9th Symphony (»Aus der Neuen Welt«)
3. Smetana’s Vltava (The Moldau)
4. Holst’s “Jupiter” from The Planets

These Songs had no problem filling the hall with a sense of grandeur, and every note was carrying the power of the music and therefore, hopefully, also carried everyone into another world.

But let’s talk about the funny part. At the very beginning of the concert, because I cannot walk with them, I had my music sheet reading glasses perched on top of my head! It must have been quite the sight—classical music, a formal setting, and there I was with my glasses doing double duty as a headband. A truly comedic touch to an otherwise elegant affair and a very yassuan thing to do tho as an added benefit I was able to also generate some laughts backstage so that my colleages could forget about them beeing nervouse right befor we exited on stage.

And then, as always, I couldn’t help but move with the music. There are more than one story to be told where people actually had to remind me to stop, luckily that has not happened when I was on Stage yet, but only time can tell if it will. It’s just something I do—I sway with the melody and subtly nod my head to the beat. It’s like my body becomes an extension of the music. I imagine it might look a bit quirky during a serious classical performance, but hey, the joy of the music just takes over!

Oh, and let’s not forget the suit. I had to buy a brand-new suit for the occasion, which cost me a whopping 195,000 yen. In euros, that’s about 1,230 euros (at a rough exchange rate of 158 yen to the euro). It felt like an investment in sophistication and style, though perhaps my glasses-on-head moment undercut that a bit!
But seriously I was a little, how to say best, shocked that I was asked to get a different suit as I had brought one. Only that it did look a little different from the one that I was show as a reference, and in Japan it is very important not to stand out and look uniform. Therefore the suit was our uniform and the one I had brought was not fitting in. Steep price for a one-time-thing, but I like suits and have neglected this hobby over the past years. Now I need to keep having concerts to get my money worth out of the suit.

All in all, it was a night filled with incredible music, laughter, and a few endearing personal quirks. We actually started the day at 1PM and ended at 10PM. A interesting blend of professionalism and personality! 🎶
Just one small thing I absolutely disliked, clapping in between pieces and leaving the room, for Japanese performance very normal for me absolutely disrespectful.

Here are some Photos and also the Videos of our performance