English Blog : Junko Ueno Garrett, A Los Angeles Kawai Artist

Learning from David Kim’s Masterclass 6/14/12 June 14, 2012

I am still in Kansas, performing and teaching at Sound Encounters Summer Music Camp. I attended David Kim’s Masterclass today. Mr. Kim is a Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and presents masterclasses at schools and institutions all over the world. I attended a portion of his class (2 students), and I heard some interesting comments. […]

Living with J. S. Bach again 6/4/12 June 4, 2012

I have a new project on J. S. Bach’s music for 2012-13 season. This time (if you don’t know my last project was Goldberg Variations.) French Overture and Italian Concerto from Klavierubung 2 (Goldberg is from Klavierubung 4), Partita No. 1 and Aria Variata. I am very excited to live with those 4 pieces, and […]

John Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary 6/4/12 June 4, 2012

I attended the dress rehearsal of this oratorio last Thursday. They have already performed 4 concerts by now, and LA Phil ended their 2011-12 season yesterday. First of all, the singers in this oratorio are really excellent, Kelly O’Connor as Mary Magdalene, Tamara Mumford as Martha, Russel Thomas as Lazarus, and 3 countertenors as narrators, Daniel […]

A Movie “Bernie” 5/28/12 May 28, 2012

It is an amazing movie. And it is really based on the true story. I thought, at the beginning, this movie is like the movie “Departure” because it is about the mortuary and Bernie Tiede is a skillful funeral house assistant director. but I was wrong. The story moved on like the movie “Waiting for […]

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Dudamel and LA Phil 5/21/12 May 22, 2012

I attended the dress rehearsal of Don Giovanni last Wednesday, 5/16/12, at Disney Concert Hall. This production is something we usually don’t imagine for opera stage. The Disney stage was divided into two parts, the front for an opera stage, and the back for an orchestra pit (!). The male and female choruses were standing next to the […]

A Movie “Headhunters” 5/21/12 May 21, 2012

If you want to see the action-comic movie, this is the one. Roger Brown has everything, a beautiful wife, an amazing villa, and a good job (a headhunter), but he always feels not confident. He is a short man, 5’6”, and lives in Norway. So he needs to have more money to fill his mind. […]

A Movie “First Position” 5/15/12 May 15, 2012

I really enjoyed this movie, almost reflecting myself when I was their age, struggling to find my destination. Thousands of aspiring young dancers enter one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions, the Youth America Grand Prix, where lifelong dreams are at stake. There are several age categories, and each category offers wonderful opportunities for selected young […]

A Movie – The Deep Blue Sea 4/22/12 April 22, 2012

The Deep Blue Sea is an exquisite, nuanced and romantic tragedy, adapted from a 1950’s play by Terence Rattigan. The director is Terence Davies, and Rachel Weisz is Hester Collyer, the wife of an upper-class judge (Simon Russell Beale) and a free and creative mind trapped in a passionless marriage. She met with Freddie Page (Tom […]

Schubert: Winterreise D. 911 by Eschenbach and Goerne 4/20/12 April 22, 2012

I love lieder, especially Schubert and Schumann. I was lucky to be introduced those great songs when I was in the Performing Arts High School in Japan. As a piano major, we needed to take Accompaniment Class, and we played many different songs and our teacher sang with us. Last 20 years, I have collaborated […]

Brahms Clarinet Trio at Disney Concert Hall 4/7/12 April 8, 2012

I had a wonderful performance with Michele Zukovsky, clarinet, and David Garrett, cello (my husband) on Tuesday 4/3. We played Brahms Clarinet Trio, Op. 114 which is a great example of lyricism in Brahms late works. After this trio, Brahms wrote my favorite piano works, Op. 116 (Phantasien – a set of 7 pieces, Capriccios […]