Violin Recital

Maybe it's being older or maybe it's being in Japan, but this evening's violin recital given by one of the Japanese members of the orchestra was a different affair than the student recitals of only a year ago.  There was no Facebook event; she asked people individually and handed out flyers to audience members after one of the HPAC concerts.  The general admission ticket price was 2500 yen (about $30), though reduced for HPAC members, and when she came to my apartment to give me the ticket she also presented me with an ando (red bean paste) filled pastry made by her mother who was in town for the recital.  The ticket itself was beautifully produced with a color photograph of her and her violin. The venue was a large recital hall in Kobe and the stage was set with a huge and beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Her dress was amazing.  There was not one, not two, but three encores.

All this and her playing, were so beautifully prepared.  So much planning and time and money went into the production, and I kept thinking of all the support that it takes to make such a beautiful thing happen.  I kept thinking of her parents and her teachers.  The whole affair seemed packaged so thoroughly in care, from her birth to this moment when those in her life helped her make this possible.  The feeling of her community and her connection to it were tied into the evening.  After the concert we exited and I stood in line watching the people in front of me exchange bows with her individually, four feet between them.  Family and friends hovered around her, a table nearby growing steadily with flowers and gifts.  My friend shook her hand, I gave her a hug.  It's a wonderful thing to be in a place with this much given to a music recital.