Basic Information

Participant(s): A Master’s student in the Piano Course
Location: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München – Germany
Period: February 5, 2015 – February 15, 2015

Achievements

After receiving a lesson from the professor I contacted, I participated in a workshop. The workshop offered four lessons, a salon concert played by selected students, and a closing concert.

At this workshop, I received lessons from Professor Michael Schäfer from the Piano department of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. This was not the first time I received lessons from Professor Schäfer. The last time I took his lessons, I was so fascinated by the way he minded me of true beauty and joy of music that I wanted to have his lesson again. I am happy that I was able to learn from him again and make my stay meaningful. In his daily lessons, Professor Schäfer was kind enough to listen to my words very carefully, and I even learned of his warm personality, which is another aspect that made my stay in Munich a productive one.

I was one of the members who played at the salon concert, where I had to perform in a shorter distance to the audience than in the closing concert. It was a new experience for me, and I felt firsthand a different way of enjoying music, which I would not have experienced in Japan.

As for housing during my stay, I chose a homestay option. I stayed with a lady who is very kind and active. I was studying German very hard in Japan, but I discovered from my experience that the best way to learn and improve German is to be exposed to the language through everyday communication.

I feel I learned a lot not only about music, but also about the German language, as well as how to communicate with the audience and people in general.