David Schotzko (Arraymusic) interviews Dai Fujikura [in English]

Описание: text from Arraymusic:

"As an international composer in high demand, DAI FUJIKURA was particularly well positioned before the pandemic struck to successfully navigate lockdowns and choppy artistic waters. “I have been communicating with musicians like this for 15 years" - on skype and collaborating online.
Dai Fujikura remains one of the busiest composers working in the world today. According to Artistic Director David Schotzko, who spoke with the composer from his home in London, England, recently for our Living Room Talks series, Dai Fujikura is also one of the most joyful composers working anywhere.
"Your music is so joyful. It always has been. I don’t think I know anyone who enjoys the craft of composing as much as you seem to. And you write a lot of music. You write at a pace that not many other people write at."
A quick scan of the composer's website reveals a staggering 60 concerts of his music have been presented in the past year-and-a-half - all during a global pandemic! And that's not including the concerts cancelled from lockdowns, or the more than 20 performances of his popular new open score for Zoom, which, yes, he wrote during the pandemic.
Writing and making a piece available on Zoom for free so that musicians could perform it was more than no small feat for Dai; it was a long-held dream realized, he revealed to David in our latest Living Room Talks video.
Pre-pandemic, the composer wrote closed scores, if increasingly sensitive to interpretation by great musicians.
While once he'd asked the question all young composers ask, "is it possible to play? Is it possible [or] not possible?, increasingly the composer has been wondering "can you play with your best sound in this situation, or not? . . . Great musicians are great musicians for a reason, and I shouldn’t be cancelling that out." So, he is laser focused on "what is the special thing" about a performer he is writing for. In a nutshell, "if the musician looks good at the premiere, I look good."
“You seem to have found the silver lining to the pandemic," David observed, citing the successes of his Zoom work. "You’ve managed to make the best of an awful situation of all the people I know. You’ve taken up an instrument, and for someone who traveled endlessly, you’re at home more with your family.”
Dai confirmed the pandemic has "taught me many things. . . I was very frustrated and quite disappointed in myself" pre-pandemic -- this because he was not yet writing for improvisation, despite long admiring such composers as Pauline Oliveros. "Then the pandemic happened and this music for Zoom or tele-performance, I just wrote it as an experiment. Obviously we have nothing to do in a pandemic, so I wrote this." In particular, this approach of writing for open score taught him "how to let go of the control -- because I am a composer that means it’s natural for me to write what I want you to do, or to play."
Dai also took up a new instrument in lockdown after a friend surprised him with a package that arrived by mail containing the gift of a traditional Japanese instrument, something the composer had little previous knowledge of, or experience with. And, for the past year Dai has been taking online lessons weekly and now practices daily.
Then there's the concerts which continue, unabated - global pandemic be damned - across Europe, Asia, Russia, Canada, the U.S..
While he describes the situation at home as dire - "We’ve been hit quite hard and the lockdown period was very long, really long; this year we only started opening up in March or April - on the plus side, "the travelling stuff doesn’t happen [anymore] so it’s [creative productivity] kind of concentrated. I have a bunch of video games in front of me, and studio equipment. I have my family with me. I have everything I need. It’s great!"
For a breath of fresh Dai Fujikura air, check out our inspiring video talk with the composer.