A FREE PUBLIC EVENT
An interview and demonstration with Satoko Fujii
In conversation with Alister Spence
‘Unpredictable, wildly creative, and uncompromising…Fujii is an absolutely essential listen for anyone interested in the future of jazz.’
– Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
For virtuoso Japanese pianist and composer Satoko Fujii, the search for musical identity has been a long journey. Training in classical piano from an early age constrained her improvisational urge to ‘just hit things’ on the piano, to explore sounds in themselves. Later studies in jazz at Berklee College of Music, Boston, reinforced her view that following conventional approaches to improvisation and composition was creatively inauthentic. During further advanced studies at the New England Conservatory, pianist and improviser Paul Bley encouraged Fujii to pursue her musical ideas however inchoate they might have initially seemed. From then on Fujii followed her intuition unwaveringly and created sounds that she liked – ‘violations’, as she calls them. The determination to forge her own creative path has produced music that has brought international critical acclaim.
In this lecture demonstration, Fujii will reflect on the importance of curiosity and determination in creative development vis-à-vis the notion of talent. Allied to this is the discussion of the developmental relationship between personal musical expression, formal training and cultural background as exemplified by her engagement with Okinawan music and min’yo vocal styles. Fujii’s broader vision is of a vibrant, multi-faceted, and multi-dimensional music community, one that champions individual endeavour and a commitment to the creative self.
Read more about the Roger Covell Fellowship
On the night:
7pm – 7.30pm – Drinks in the foyer of Io Myers Studio with Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura
7.30pm – 8.30pm – Interview and demonstration with Satoko Fujii and Alister Spence
Finding us
Io Myers Studio is located at the entrance to Gate 2 High St, Kensington. Look for the Creative Practice Lab neon sign in our foyer windows.
Parking
There is limited parking in the Gate 2 area around Io Myers Studio but free parking is available from 6:30pm in the car park next to NIDA accessed through Day Ave.
Links
More information on getting to UNSW.
Download a campus map. (PDF)
The ‘Imagine Meeting you Here: Fujii/Spence performance, education, recording project’ is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
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