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Just a general statement about what I experienced in Japan on my most recent visit. The level of playing from student to professional is rising at an incredible rate. They have avoided "playing traditions" that lock them in to certain gear/horns or dogmatic stylistic approaches and have assimilated all of the best aspects of all of the various national styles to form a unique and unmatched level of playing and music-making.

This could probably be best represented by the duo recital I heard Yasuhito Sugiyama and Massimo La Rosa perform in Tokyo last month! If you ever get a chance to hear them, DO IT! However, every player I heard in Japan was bringing top-notch tone, technique, and musicianship to the table.

If you're a Western player looking for a place to study abroad, Japan is the new Frontier!
https://youtu.be/nNReuEdF34s" target="_blank

They did that with string playing a long time ago. Figured out how to teach it and did it. That plus the cultural difference of it being actually a good thing to work very hard at something, makes a huge difference. I wish they would get a hold of the horn world and turn it upside down.

Superb playing!

https://youtu.be/4AdWih7-suE

Wow! Beautiful.
Thanks for posting.

I can personally attest to this. I lived and taught tuba in Japan for 3 years. I go back to Japan about once every 2 years to see the in laws and play with my tuba playing friends. I taught high school level tuba students privatley and can tell you that my Japanese high school students actually took care of their tubas and practiced as a section and individually with a metronome and tuner. Most US college students don't do that. Playing as a section to them was more inporrant than who was the best and the loudest in the section. Only one of my students out of the 5 I taught went onto college for tuba performance. The other 4 knew they didn't want to go on to music school but still took their tuba playing seriously. I also got to work with and continue to work with the tuba players of the Tokyo Navy Band and some free lance tuba players in Osaka. They are very good friends of mine. When I worked with both Tokyo and Osaka tuba players we shared ideas as equals. I had strengths in my playing that they didn't have and vice versa. There was no ego involved. It was a great experimace.

It's no surprise honestly, the Japanese always go above and beyond because they're a very pride driven country. The USA has musicians of that caliber but I only see young tubists like that once in a blue moon.