A long-lasting friendship
by Scott
I first met pianist Ryo Yanagitani back in 1999 at the Canadian Chopin Competition in Mississauga, Ontario. I was still in high school in Winnipeg and he was a 4th-year piano student at UBC in Vancouver. We met up at two more national piano competitions that year, in Edmonton and Toronto, and quickly became good friends! I looked up to Ryo as a mentor who I could turn to for music advice, as well as a good friend. At the Shean Competition in Edmonton in 2000, Ryo performed the Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto and won 1st prize! It was a memorable experience for me to witness this performance, and it gave me plenty of inspiration.
Fast-forward 22 years, and I was delighted to see that Ryo was going to be performing the same piece that I first heard him play when he won the 1st prize in Edmonton, but this time with orchestra! The concert was on September 9th was with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Ken Hsieh. Ryo has been living in the USA, so he had to make a trip back to his hometown Vancouver for the performance.
What also made this concert extra special was that my parents happened to be visiting us from Winnipeg, and they have been fans of Ryo for as long as I have! My mom still has some old cassette tapes that she recorded of Ryo’s CBC radio broadcasts in the early 2000s. So we all went to the concert together, and enjoyed it thoroughly!
Looking forward to the next time we meet! Come back soon!
With Ryo in Edmonton, May 2000, after his winning performance of Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto. He’s wearing a finger bandage that I believe I showed him how to make! It is to protect one’s nails during intense periods of practicing and playing.
Ryo with my parents, Clare and me after his Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra concert on September 9.
