English Blog

A Movie “Mr. Turner” 1/18/15 January 18, 2015

I always like the paintings of Turner, and it was so interesting to see this movie to learn about the famous painter! First of all the film is so beautiful as if the whole movie is like Turner’s paintings. Also the music is great too. I was so happy to see the individual names of […]

A Movie “Whiplash” 12/21/14 December 21, 2014

This movie is about the music conservatory life which I went through myself. I attended Tokyo’s Performing Arts High School and Toho Conservatory in Japan, then master’s and doctor’s degree in the US for piano performance. At the last year of Toho Conservatory, 2 of my piano friends committed suicide because they could not handle […]

LA Phil: Green Umbrella Concert 12/9/14 December 12, 2014

The concert started with Stockhausen’s “Gesang der Junglinge” (1956), and I felt as if thousands kids speaking to me from everywhere. I don’t know how many speakers they were using, but surely I felt the voices coming from every place in Disney Concert Hall. It is a good piece to start an European avant-garde concert. The conductor was Mattias […]

A Movie “The Imitation Game” 12/8/14 December 12, 2014

I have not gone to the movie theater for a while, and this movie was so perfect to come back to the theater! “The Imitation Game” is a British-American historical (based on the real true story!) thriller portraying Alan Turing, a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, computer pioneer, and a long distant world class runner. He […]

Clara Schumann and Her Contribution in 19th Century Music 10/29/14 October 29, 2014

Clara Schumann (née Clara Josephine Wieck) is considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era. She exerted her influence over a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital and the tastes of the listening public. Her reputation brought her into contact with the leading musicians of the day, […]

We live in the precious world… 10/29/14 October 29, 2014

We lost our beloved friend, Francetta LaRussa, this past weekend. She had a heart attack and a stroke. I just saw her a week ago, and she looked as happy and beautifully as always. She and Wayne took a wonderful trip to Alaska in September, and their photos from Alaska are still so vivid. She […]

3rd@1st Concert series in Pasadena, CA 10/20/14 October 19, 2014

We started a new concert series “Third at First” at FUMC Pasadena, California. As you see from the naming, each concert will be presented every month on the Third Saturday at 4pm at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena. We had a first concert performed by an exceptional organist, Ty Woodward on October 18. His […]

A Movie “A Most Wanted Man” 5/23/15 September 28, 2014

This is the last movie Philip Seymour Hoffman was involved before he died with the drug overdose. As always his acting is amazing, but the story is too difficult to believe. It is a great thriller. And I simply could not miss his last movie!

A Movie “Philomena” 9/14/14 September 14, 2014

A movie “Philomena” is based on the book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee” by journalist Martin Sixsmith, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. It tells the true story of Philomena (Dench), 50-year-long search for her forcefully adopted son, and Sixsmith’s (Coogan) effort to help her finding him. The movie follows the sad story/history of adoptions. […]

A Movie “Heaven is for Real” 9/14/14 September 14, 2014

This movie is based on the book (the same name) written by Pastor Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent, and directed by Christopher Parker. It has a great casting and it is definitely a “feeling good” movie! Four-year-old Colton Burpo, the son of Pastor Todd Burpo, tells his dad about his story in heaven during his death threatening […]