Violinist Ikuko Kawai will be appearing on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which will be broadcast at 1:00 p.m. on June 13th.
Kawai is popular for his unique concerts using video and Japanese instruments, but he originally graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts and aimed to pursue a career in classical music. He set his life goal as "entering Tokyo University of the Arts" and worked hard, but after enrolling he was burned out by the entrance exams and spent his time enjoying college life while living alone for the first time and working part-time.
When she was in high school, she suffered from extreme stage fright after failing a performance due to nervousness, and started to think, "I don't want to be a soloist. I enjoy living as a member of a band or orchestra." However, after encountering the music of a certain composer and learning about its freedom, she strongly felt, "I want to live like that too," so she abandoned the traditional classical music and began to perform on stage with the music and costumes she wanted to wear. Then her stage fright completely disappeared, and she developed the style she has today.
Ms. Kawai is also a mother raising her only daughter, who is a first-year university student. When she asked her daughter, who is good at drawing, to design a flyer, she made several candidates. She also said that she was a reliable presence, as when she asked her daughter to check the lighting and other aspects of the performance from the audience, she wrote her impressions in a notebook and handed it to her.
