Since the first time that Sayuri Kubota heard Chopin, she knew that she wanted to play it on the piano herself one day.
“It really attracted me. .. but most of the pieces are very difficult. I kept asking to play it but my piano teacher said, ‘you should wait, you should wait. When I played a Chopin piece for the first time after 12 or 13 years of playing piano, I was so glad I continued playing until (I got to) that stage. There was always a feeling that I wanted to continue playing piano until one day I could play Chopin,” she described. Sayuri has not just mastered the most challenging of Chopin pieces, but it is merely one of the many classical composers that she is now able to play.
The semi-professional pianist, who first arrived in Nanaimo from Japan to teach math, has been playing the piano for more than four decades. This is aside from her holding down a full-time job as well as raising a child. “My piano teacher in Japan once asked me if I wanted to become professional or keep it as a hobby. You have to train extremely hard and it’s very difficult to make a living as a professional pianist. I’m glad I kept it as a hobby because I’m not sure I would enjoy it as much as I do right now,” she recounted.
Sayuri herself was being taught by an instructor at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. She now does an annual concert to help raise funds for the conservatory. This is her fourth year playing at the concert. This time around, she will be playing music from composers who were from or influenced by Italy. “She used to play all Chopin concerts, she used to play romantic music, she used to play classical composers, but this time she’s doing kind of a mix and match. As a piano student who is not a professional pianist, she plays the most challenging works. It is very inspiring for younger students,” said Teresa Marusarz-Borek, Sayuri’s teacher. According to her teacher, this will be her most interesting concert up to date. For the full story, you can check it out here.
If you are looking for piano lessons in Singapore, do ensure that you have a qualified teacher to guide you along. At Awesome Piano, we only provide our students with certified teachers who have a minimum of Grade 8.