Thank you everybody for your support!!

A set of pictures from the events posted here so far that includes some of the people around us who have joined our presentations and/or the after-parties!!





There are some other pictures from other events that were not included here, such as the Niigata Symphony Orchestra or with the wedding crew in Nagaoka or with a cello solo event at an Italian restaurant... and in Midori's case for her previous work as a Music Teacher in a Junior High School (Please feel free to include others that include friends you wish to aknowledge Mi)







Entry: AJ

Mitsubashi Nursery Schools !!

This time I had the chance to play at 2 Nursery Schools from the same owner.
This event was viewed by babies from a couple of months old to 6 years olds and a few parents..

On this opportunity I played cello solo, and it was quite a task since they are so tiny.
To my surprise, they were so attentive it was really hard to believe that I was playing for such a young crowd.

The main idea of this presentation was to take the kids through a world of music they know, to a classical world they can learn to understand ...or at least not fall asleep over!!
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Well, basically it worked this way;
First I played some Disney and Jibri they are familiar with (or at least the story line) and then moved into a little more dangerous waters with Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" explaining the melody line for each character and then asking them to follow those themes in the main story. In the video you can hear some kids saying KOWAI! when the Wolf melody appears.. quite funny..
And at the end I played Swan (Saint Saenz) and asked them to make a story this time..
And also asked to remember the duck from Peter & Wolf's story to compare.
It worked out great!!

Next time I will try to get them a little more engaged by asking them to help me imitate the sound of the characters or for higher grades, asking them to act it out.
Well, I'm thinking out loud here, but I will consider some of this for next time.

Entry: AJ

What comes next for Azur Indian??

The sweet and sour news is that Midori San is going away from Japan. Sweet, since Midori, recieved a scholarship to study abroad at the United Nations Mandate University for Peace (clap, clap, clap..) and sour for the obvious reasons.. although, the Duo will go own with another pianist which I would like to introduce here: Hatsuki San !!
There's a video in this posting where you can see how nicely she handles the crowd.
.. I hope that the same rythm will prevail for Azur Indian.

On this note, I would like to state that AI is everybody that plays in it, and therefore, I hope that the new musicians that Midori encounters in her new postal code can be included in this blog as Azur Indian!!

Hoping to keep this blog going, I would like to present the latest event in Toyano High School, made possible thanks to a english student at the NHK cultural center where I teach.

The kids were gathered around in a 50 minute presentation that included a video in the background composed of theme pictures from Honduras in hopes to get some questions at the end of the music/speach performance. The pieces played this time included some Disney and Jibri themes but at the end mostly classical, since the level of the students is a little higher and you can present a variety that goes hand to hand with their music curriculum.

This time we are trying to stimulate all senses at the time to see what works best. The response from the kids was quite active, which is a lot to say for other presentations were it's usually not the case.
They came up with some interesting questions from the pictures and the presentation about Honduras.
I was really satisfied with this event!
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Entry: AJ