Momo Kodama, a pianist based in Paris, France, participated for the first time in “LA FOLLE JOURNEE” held in Nantes, in 2003. Since then, she has been totally enthralled by the inspiring festival atmosphere.
In 2005, after her participation in Nantes (France) and Lisbon (Portugal), she will perform in “LA FOLLE JOURNEE au Japon.” On December 4, the first day of public ticket sales for LA FOLLE JOURNEE au Japon, Ms. Kodama, who experienced Nantes as a performer, talked about what LA FOLLE JOURNEE means to a performer.
Momo Kodama, Pianist
Global pianist. Located in Paris. She has a large repertory ? from Bach to contemporary works -- and rich, expressive power. Born in Osaka, she went to Europe at the age of one. At 13, she entered Le Conservatoire de Paris, the youngest and best student. At 16, she graduated from the piano and chamber music course with the “premier prix (best award),” based on the unanimous decision of the judges.
In 1991, she won the second prize (no one got the first) at the Munich International Music Competition. She was the youngest winner (at 19) in the history of the competition. After that, she performed with various top world orchestras. She won several prizes to include the Arion Shorei Award, Idemitsu Music Award, and Terence Judd Award (U.K.). In 2004, she joined a European tour with the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valerie Gergiev, the RAI Symphony Orchestra, and the Saito Kinen Orchestra. In addition, she achieved tremendous success during the German and Japanese tour with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Norrington.
 On December 4, Ms. Momo Kodama made a surprise appearance at the ticket sale anniversary event held in the TIF Plaza.
In front of the box office in the TIF Plaza, where public advance tickets are on sale, a special event to introduce La Folle Journee au Japon “A day of Enthusiasm” Music Festival was held. Ms. Kodama participated in this event as a surprise guest after her interview.
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3 Days For Indulging in Music
From the moment I stepped down from the station at Nantes, the whole town was filled with music. All people of the town, who were truly engaged in music, came to listen to our performances. Their ages and their experiences with music were not important. From small children to the aged, everyone in town including a person who had never heard classical music before, came to the festival.
This festival in Nantes seems to be special because I sometimes played at 9 o’clock in the morning or at 11 o’clock at night. In a more typical concert, I play only once a day at a specific time. In Nantes, I sometimes played several times in a day, which is unusual for a musical concert.
Though I thought it unlikely that I could play in such a way, La Folle Journee has an atmosphere in which we musicians can perform with a totally comfortable feeling. During the 3-day period, I felt both comfortable and excited. After the festival, I was totally fatigued. Such fatigue, however, made me feel at ease and satisfied. I knew I had participated in a great event and felt I had achieved a new role as a pianist.
Unique Atmosphere in the Halls and with the Audience
 There were many school children in the halls. I had heard that this was because schools used the festival as an educational program. Children study classical music at school, and after that they hear live music in the festival halls. Children especially need to get in touch with music of good quality.
Some people at the festival said, “I realized what a beautiful experience music is.” In La Folle Journee, you can go to the music hall with an attitude that you might have when you go to a coffee shop. Such a relaxed attitude does not usually happen when you go to a more traditional classical music concert. You can go alone or together with people. You can go any time you want. If you are not good at getting up early in the morning, you can go at night after work.
A variety of people ? from beginner to classical music maniac - come to the festival with a relaxed feeling. People with different backgrounds mix together in the audience, which makes the atmosphere of the halls unique.
All concerts in the halls end at the same time. The result is that after a concert, visitors from all the halls are moving around from hall to hall. The feeling is like being in traffic during rush hour. However, this does not cause confusion. Visitors exchange information, make remarks, and communicate with each other, which is an unusual occurrence at a musical concert. When we performers are around, visitors ask questions and talk to us. This is the unique atmosphere of La Folle Journee.
Place of Musicians’ Friendship and Communication
In a typical musical concert, I do not listen to other musicians’ performances on my performance day. However, as many artists come to perform for La Folle Journee, I sometimes wanted to. On the days I did not perform, I went to concerts to listen to various musicians’ performances.
Further, in La Folle Journee, great musicians came to hear my performance. Such attendance for musicians is normally impossible. This was an incentive for me. Moreover, I could meet a number of musicians at the time, which was another unusual situation. Plus, various cultures mixed at the festival.
Another part of La Folle Journee’s special approach is that that all pieces (e.g. piano sonata, symphony, etc.) performed during the festival were written by one composer.
I feel that once you experience La Folle Journee, you can never return to the typical concert style you experienced before Folle Journee. In La Folle Journee, I become united with the audience, and sometimes, I could not recognize whether I was a performer or someone in the audience. Such an experience changed my attitude to an audience even during my own concert.
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