Yoshikazu Nagai, Pianist | words

HAPPY 2010 and….we’re back!

-yn — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:41:25 +0000

Happy New Year and hello to both old and new visitors here! After what seems like ages of failed tweaking and searching for answers, I’ve finally managed to get this part of my website up and functional again. The problem started after I upgraded to a new version of Wordpress through my host. To make a long story short, I wasn’t able to access any of my “words” here for a very long time. The good news is that nothing was lost and I can start updating with new content soon.

(photo from honolulu, hawaii – end of a year, the beginning of another)

Here are a few site related updates that I’ve made since coming back online:

created an iPhone/iPod touch friendly version of my website. (Welcome to all those visiting from your handhelds).
revised the comments system – added a simple way to reply to any comment and updated/streamlined the look. Let me know what you think below!
posted a few new pictures to the ‘photos‘ section

Here are a few of my ‘todos’:

refresh the ‘music‘ section with new recordings + figure out a better way to stream the music (anyone have thoughts?)
work on the photos section: post photos from the old photo site + update with new ones.
…..many more than I can list!

Obviously there is still a lot to do around here, but for now, that’s about it. I wish happiness and health for you all in the new year!

-yn

EMF

-yn — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:11:45 +0000

This is just a quick post to let you all know that I will be at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC teaching and performing for the next five weeks. I’ll try to post a list of the performances hopefully sooner than later.

UPDATE: Here is a quick list of some upcoming concerts I’ll be performing in at EMF:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2008
8PM, MCCRARY THEATRE, ELON UNIVERSITY
Annual Steinway Piano Gala

THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2008
8PM, DANA AUDITORIUM, GUILFORD COLLEGE
Annual Steinway Piano Gala (solo and 8 hands music)

MONDAY, JULY 7, 2008
8PM, RECITAL HALL, UNCG (University of North Carolina Greensboro)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio No.1, op.1 in E-flat major

SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2008
3PM, REYNOLDA HOUSE, WINSTON-SALEM
BRAHMS: Piano Trio in B major, op.8

TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2008
8PM, CARNEGIE ROOM, HEGE LIBRARY, GUILFORD COLLEGE
BRAHMS: Piano Trio in B major, op.8

TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2008
8PM, CARNEGIE ROOM, HEGE LIBRARY, GUILFORD COLLEGE
BRUCH: Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano op.83

You can check out a complete schedule of events here. If you are in the area, come by and say hello! For more information about this summer festival, click here.

*this photo was taken by Anna Wu (our photo intern last year) during a lesson I was giving at EMF. See more of her work at annawu.com.

OPEN HOUSE: Official relaunch!

-yn — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:00:00 +0000

a boat on the harbors of honolulu, hawaii. (iphone shot, iphoto enhanced).

WELCOME TO YOSHINAGAI.COM!

Hello everybody! It’s taken a long time, but I finally decided to relaunch, redesign and move my website. Things are obviously still dusty around here, but please take a look around, comment on anything and everything or just sign my guestbook. As always, have fun and enjoy your stay!

-yn

ps. I’ve successfully imported all the comments from the old site, so all your previous comments are here too!

yoshinagai.com 2.0 is now open

-yn — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:25:44 +0000

The biggest and most recent news is that this site has a new face, new design and new place to live. I’ve worked on a new look and I hope to update it with some fresh content soon.

to see this new site, please head on over to the entrance of yoshinagai.com 2.0 here. (you are at the new site)

This may be my last post on this site for a while here. (this post was for the old site).

I hope to be able to move some of these blog posts over to the new site if it’s at all possible. (done!)

UPDATE: This was originally posted at my old site which won’t be up for very much longer. I’ve switched over to WordPress, a really great open source way to blog. It was very easy to move all the posts and comments over from Typepad. If you are here, then you’ve found my new blog.

As always, your comments are more than welcome! I wish everybody the best and I hope to see you on my other site soon! here often!

-YN

ps. click on the photo to get a “preview” of the welcome page!

Lisztmania

-yn — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 01:14:16 +0000

Starting today, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music is hosting the 2007 American Liszt Society Festival (March 29-31) entitled, “Liszt in Paris”. For all of you who need your fix of all things Liszt, this is the place to be.

****In honor of this event, I give you a video of Hungarian super-virtuoso* George Cziffra *playing Liszt’s GrandGalop Chromatiq. (warning: view at your own risk - it’s frightening!!)***

The festival is a celebration of the life and works of Franz Liszt through lectures and performances ranging from solo, duo piano, and vocal music. Themes range from “A Night at the Opera” to “Ghosts of the past, Spirits of the future – Paris in the 1830’s”. You can download a PDF brochure of all the events here. A complete schedule of events and more information can be found on the American Liszt Society’s website. I’ll be performing a solo recital this Saturday, so if you’re in the area, feel free to stop on by!

Toronto (…away again)

-yn — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:17:34 +0000

For the past few days, I’ve been in Toronto for the 2007 MTNA National Conference. It’s a historic event this year because of the collaboration between the United States and Canada’s largest national teaching organizations (the MTNA, CFMTA and the RCM). For the curious, you can check out information on the Collaborative Conference here. If you are a music student, independent or collegiate teacher, there’s an organization for you!

*the picture is beautiful Toronto at night (not mine).

I’m Back!! (again….)

-yn — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:16:56 +0000

Hello to all my friends, family, students and first time visitors!

It’s been a very long time but here’s what’s happening…As you can see, the website has a whole new look! A quick recap of “website-related construction”:

Website Facelift
New Banner
Added piano key graphics to the posting titles.
Changed the Multimedia of the Week section to Google Video (Flash Video)
Added a background to the website (viewable in Full Screen) any guesses to what it is?

More to come later……..I plan on updating this site with fresh content soon!!

Updates!

-yn — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 02:42:35 +0000

I’ve added a new section called, “Multimedia of the Week” to the right sidebar in which I hope to feature a different type of media (short video, music, pictures) every week. This week I’m featuring a video I made called, “greenlake tonight.” Greenlake is a beautiful place on the campus of Interlochen where I live(d) and currently (formerly) work(ed). ·

UPDATE: (this section was on the old website, and I hope to have something similar up on the new site here as well). See the video after the link:

Let me know what you think of this new feature by leaving your thoughts in the comments below. (yes, that’s greenlake up there..you can click on the thumbnail for a larger view).

For now, please enjoy the video of Greenlake below:

To see more views of this amazing place, please click here for pictures I’ve taken.

another small update: You can now listen to the entire list of music from the “Listen to Music” section right inside of this website. Feel free to check it out here and let me know what you think! (I’ve moved my music to this page here.

finally: the website has a new look! Spring is supposedly here, and I just happen to like green a lot. When I have time, I’ll try and put the banner back up top.· Hope you like it.

Beethoven’s Hair

-yn — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:09:19 +0000

Reading books online has become almost standard thanks to the internet. Here is an interactive, multimedia version of Russell Martin’s entertaining and haunting book called, “Beethoven’s Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved.“ (Amazon.com description and review of the book is here). The online authors describe the website version as follows:

“Visitors to the Beethoven’s Hair Online Documentary have been experiencing strange paranormal phenomena. Prepare yourself for the manifestation of Beethoven’s ghost by reading on..”

Through a combination of video, music, great flash animation, and some spooky sound effects, traverse time from 1704 through 2004….and learn just what this mystery is all about. I warn you though, it could get a little scary…have fun! Start your journey by clicking here.

*this sealed frame in the picture above is said to contain an actual lock of Beethoven’s hair!

I’m back!

-yn — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 01:52:16 +0000

(…they have the best view).

Hello everybody! Yes, it’s been way too long since my last entry here. Though Spring break is now upon us, winter seems to be something of an unpredictable gamble from day-to-day at Interlochen. Many things have happened since the holiday season, but the biggest news is that I’ve been appointed Professor of Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. You can click here to find out more about this school. Starting this fall, I will be leaving Interlochen to join the piano faculty at SFCM.

It has truly been an amazing eight years for me at Interlochen and I am sincerely grateful for each day I’ve had there. I hope to be updating this website more frequently to continue to bring you all interesting sights and links.

*This is a photo of greenlake…a place where we all can reflect on the past and look to the future for inspiration.