Editor’s note: This is the last of a two-part series on famed German violinist Kolja Blacher’s educational method shown through his interactions with Japanese children at a music event in Tokyo.

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Last November in Tokyo, world-renowned violinist Kolja Blacher held a lecture concert for young people in Japan and criticized teaching methods that are based on the amount of practice time.

At the event, Blacher, a former first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, offered music and commentary for children learning musical instruments.

Regarding the idea of constant practice, Blacher said in an interview after the event, “Maybe (there is) too much pressure on quantity.”

He said “the situation in Japan is very similar to that in Germany,” and he touched on the words of his late father, Boris, a composer.

“I remember my father always said, ‘Don’t practice so much, but practice well.’ My mother was the other way. She wanted me just to work a lot. Which I didn’t,” he said, laughing.

“There were many people who practiced too much and did not succeed. My remarks could have relieved the children of excessive parental pressure.”

Aiko Mizushima, a former long-time violinist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO), one of the most prestigious orchestras in Germany, who now teaches younger generations in Japan and Germany, also weighed in on what is important in music education.

When Mizushima was a child, she studied under Shinichi Suzuki, founder of the famed Suzuki Method of music education.

Suzuki always told her to “practice to get better,” and she remembered he was particularly focused on the quality of practice.

“Even though students practice because they can’t easily do it well, children in Japan are afraid of making mistakes,” Mizushima said.

She teaches violin in both Japan and Germany, and says, “In Japan, there are so many parents who brag about how many hours their children have practiced, but I believe if they feel that their children are losing concentration, parents should stop them from practicing.”

Blacher performed as a soloist with an orchestra that Mizushima belonged to, so the two know each other.

Mizushima has been teaching younger generations in Japan and Europe for more than 40 years.

After retiring from the orchestra in 2010, she served as a music adviser for the Hyogo Prefectural Arts Center (PAC) Orchestra.

Blacher has had a successful career as a violinist, but he also faced struggles.

He said he was under enormous pressure to succeed because of his father’s fame as a composer. No matter what he did a child, he said, people would always mention his father.

“Years before (recording my father’s piece), I refused to play his music,” Blacher said. “The year 2025 will be the 50th anniversary of my father’s death, so I’m going to play a concerto.”

Blacher said that when he was 17, he wanted to quit music.

“I was sick of it. And I wanted to go to a kibbutz in Israel to work there,” he said. “I had very strong socialist ideas, I wanted to do third-world work also.

“And then a friend of my parents said … if you want to help, the first thing they will ask you is ‘what can you do?’ And you say ‘I can play the violin’ and they will say ‘you can play a concert.’

“You have to be a professional, and you have to be able to do something. I decided I won’t (work in a kibbutz). That pause is quite important for me.”

Blacher pointed out the importance of not only practicing musical instruments but also being exposed to various cultures and arts, as well as exercising through sports.

“Musicians are athletes who use their bodies, but at the same time they are intellectuals who use their brains. And when they perform, they are also actors. A performer’s job is a mixture of these things,” he said.

Blacher said, “I don’t think Japanese musicians are all about technique and lack musicality. Mayumi Kanagawa, whom I taught, has also had a great career.”

Mizushima, who attended the Blacher event, said he reminded her of the importance of musicians living a normal life.

“In Europe, musicians exercise and are interested in cooking, movies and theater, and they go to museums,” she said. “If there is no maturity as a human being, the music will be narrow-minded.”

She said the best violinists in Europe have a timbre that is unique to them. They have a rich ability to balance the notes and read important melodies from the score. And even if they win a competition, some people do not immediately become active and continue to study.

“I think the tendency in Japan to praise the top winners of competitions and sell them while they are still immature as human beings is very dangerous,” she said. “In Japan, there are few music colleges where you can learn ensembles in chamber music, even though there is a good education for soloists.

“Suzuki stressed the importance of listening to each other and instead of competing,” she continued. “He didn’t have any dropouts and raised them to be wonderful people. That was the pedagogical method by Suzuki.”

To play good music, it is necessary to have a wide range of education and interests, and to have a good sense of humanity.

Blacher also said he had considered different career paths.

“I wanted to be a footballer, and my teachers at school once told my parents that I should be a footballer. A close friend of mine was a saxophonist, and I was also interested in jazz saxophonists. If I hadn’t become a violinist, I would have become a jazz saxophonist. My desire to become a conductor came true when I started conducting.”

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Born in Berlin in 1963, Kolja Blacher became a violinist and professor at the School of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin in Germany. He studied at the Juilliard School in the United States and Salzburg in Austria. After working as the first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he has been active as a soloist. His father is the late Boris Blacher, a famed composer.

Born in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1945, Aiko Mizushima graduated from Toho Gakuen University and Vienna State University of Music. She joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1976, becoming the fifth female member in the history of the orchestra. She worked as a member of the first violinists.