The Japan Society of Northern California is presenting a gala concert, featuring Nobuyuki Tsujii on Oct. 17, in the renovated Herbst Theatre, among the first classical-music events to take place there.
Blind since birth, pianist Tsujii has learned music by ear and braille since age 2, and achieved international fame. He is also a composer, his music recorded in several albums, his film scores receiving awards. He has raised funds to benefit victims by performing his "Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 11, 2011 in Japan" in Carnegie Hall and elsewhere.
Since 2005, Tsujii has been performing in Europe, and received the Critics’ Award at the 15th International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. In 2009, at age 21, Tsujii won a gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, creating "Nobu fever" in his native Japan and around the world; he was called an inspiration to those who face disabilities or obstacles in art and life.
Tsujii will perform Chopin’s Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante in E-flat Major, Op. 22, and Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D-flat Major, and Piano Sonata in B Minor, S.178.
Reporting from the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News wrote that “It's almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata by ear... Through all three rounds, he played with unfailing assurance, and his unforced, utterly natural Chopin E-Minor Piano Concerto was an oasis of loveliness."
Tsujii has said he learns from from braille and listening, "but also my teacher plays for me and records hands separately for me. I listen to the recordings and play it slowly and memorize it."
Established 110 years ago - and leading recovery from the historic clash between the two countries in World War II - Japan Society of Northern California is dedicated to American-Japanese collaboration and understanding, says Chief Operating Officer Eileen C. Tanaka. The gala will recognize contributions to that cause by Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, and Haruo Murase, Chairman of Canon Marketing Japan Inc.