What do you do? If you are sentenced, you will have only a few more months to live.

What do you do? What do I do?

I attended an unforgettable concert in New Year.

I did not know this concert would be a concert with such gravity.

I performed in 2 concerts in 2019 in which Mr. Kuwata and his well-known violinist wife also featured. I loved his cello music very much.

In late December 2022, when I read the notice of his concert, First, I was amazed by the show of the names (all-star musicians ) for the ad-hoc symphony orchestra, plus the concert venue was so close to my place.

The people who were posting the concert on SNS were all my friends. So, without knowing much about the concert, I bought tickets right away, then I learned almost in the next few days, all the tickets were sold out.

On the concert day, when I arrived at the concert hall, it was already packed, and people who came for on-the-day tickets had to go home. With masks, I could not spot famous musicians, but I am sure there were many.

The friend planning to come to the concert with me got a cold, and I invited my friend who lived very close to this place I had not met for a long time and was not that much into classical music. we sat and chatted cheerfully

When the music started, I noticed that Mr. Kuwata had lost so much weight, and he looked very, very feeble. His cello playing” Song of bird” by Pablo Casals was extremely fragile, sensitive, and sorrowful.

Then, when comes to Beethoven’s Eroica symphony, Mr. Kuwata, as a conductor this time, was sitting on a chair, and a water bottle was set right next to him.

The music was amazing, excellent! Though he had to stay sitting, his arms and upper body flew and danced to give cues of musical energy to the orchestra.

Very intense, moving performance; the conductor and orchestra were one.

And lo———ng applause and so many times of bowing.,,

Some of the orchestra members were crying.

I sensed that Mr. Kuwata was unwell, but I did not know exactly how seriously ill he was until I asked one of my musician friends, who was helping with the concert at the hall.

He was sentenced by a doctor in December that he would live only a few more months due to his recurring cancer. He could stay lying in the hospital bed. Still, his ardent wish was to have a concert as his pre-funeral ceremony to bid goodbye to people with his music… then, a famous violinist called for musicians to come together. That’s why the announcement of this concert was so sudden. It was a super ad hoc orchestra with all-star Japanese musicians who came together to make Mr. Kuwata’s will come true.

Now, I understood everything, the gravity of this concert,,, and as I sat in the very front seat during the performance and saw every expression and move of him. I can recall every second of this stage.

In the photo frame I have next to my piano is a group photo taken after a concert when he was still healthy in 2019. He was a humble, quiet person standing behind me and other lady musicians. I see him whenever

I sit at my piano in the photo.

He will always remind me what means to be a true musician and also those warm hearts of musicians who helped . I feel I should take each time seriously, when I make music; each time I produce sound, it could be my/your last notes. Treat music with respect and care; in my practice, teaching, or just reading, do it wholeheartedly, not carelessly.

Do a good practice as if this was the last piano practice I could conduct….

Thank you, Kuwata san and all the wonderful musicians who granted his dream and gave such amazing music to the audience.

I will remember the concert and the message behind it,, always for the rest of my life.