Projects

Music Excellence Academy

Shinichi Furuya, Research Director of the Tokyo Research Department, is working on supporting the artistic maturity of musicians and preventing injuries through the research and technological development of "Musical Dynaformics," a discipline that clarifies the optimal mental and physical practices and training methods necessary for musical expression. As a program to implement the research outcomes of Dynaformics into our society, the "Music Excellence Academy," which combines physical and arts education in the world’s first holistic educational program for young musicians, launched on August 1, 2020. This holistic piano education program, which pursues the “state-of-the-art” through sustainable improvement of both skills and mind, is the very first challenge in the world.

Physical Education Program: Physical Education Curriculum Transformed by Cutting-Edge Technologies "PEAC"

One key feature of the Physical Education Program is based on Musical Dynaformics. To support the mastery of skills and improve the quality of practice, our cutting-edge, high-precision sensing technologies enable to evaluate skills and provide recommendations for sensorimotor training. The Physical Education for Artist Curriculum (PEAC), which builds on knowledge in the realms of biomechanics and neuroscience, guides students to discover their habitual movements and posture in playing. This enables students to optimize the way of making use of their body, and to improve practice methods efficiently and effectively. We are developing the PEAC (Physical Education for Artists Curriculum), a physical education program designed to give musicians the benefits of scientifically-grounded theories through the power of technology.

Organizer：Shinichi Furuya

Shinichi Furuya is Research Director of Tokyo Research at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc, and Representative of NeuroPiano Institute. His positions include a guest professor at the Institute for Music Physiology and Musician's Medicine at Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media;a lecturer at Kyoto City University of Arts, at Tokyo College of Music, at Tokyo University of Art, and at Toho College of Music. At Osaka University in Japan, he studied mechanical engineering (BSc), biomechanics and exercise physiology (MS), and motor neuroscience (Ph.D.). He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Kwansei Gakuin University (Japan), University of Minnesota (USA), and Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media (Germany). He was a recipient of the Leading Initiative for Excellent Young Researchers (LEADER) award from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). He was awarded the Susanne Klein-Vogelbach-Prize for the Research of Human Movement 2019. He himself is a prize-winning pianist who has competed in a number of professional piano competitions in Japan.

Art Education Program: International Standard of Art Education

Our art Education Program offers a world-class education, led by globally renowned pianist Prof. Dina Yoffe as our Musical Director, which includes monthly lessons from six internationally accomplished pianists. Prof. Yoffe is one of the top piano educators with a high reputation internationally over many years. She has educated many pianists all over the world. Learning directly from Prof. Yoffe facilitates artistic and technical development of young pianists.

Musical Director：Dina Yoffe

Top prize-winner at the Schumann and Chopin International Piano Competitions. Participant at international music festivals in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Honorary member of the Japan Piano Teachers Association. Artistic Director of the Festival and Master Classes "Musical Summer" in Malaga (Spain). Originally from Riga (Latvia), Yoffe graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow under the tutelage of Prof. Vera Gornostaeva, one of the most important proponents of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus school. She has served as a judge in such international piano competitions as Hamamatsu (Japan), Chopin (Warsaw), and Liszt Competition (Weimar). Currently, she is Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory Liceu in Barcelona (Spain), Professor at the Talent Music Masters Academy in Brescia (Italy), and Visiting Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music (China). Her students have won national and international piano competitions. Many of them are teaching in music academies in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

http://www.dinayoffe.com/

Students

  • 1st Generation：Riko Ando, Tomoya Otaki, Yuto Yamazaki, Yuki Kimoto, Aiko Shimada, Kisara Yonemitsu, Rin Suzuki, Kotaro Watanabe, Yu Matsuoka
  • 2nd Generation：Tomoya Otaki, Shintaro Kida, Yuki Kimoto, Nanase Koyama, Rin Suzuki, Kantaro Narita, Riona Yamauchi, Yuto Yamazaki, Yurina Yamashita, Kotaro Watanabe
  • 3rd Generation：Kaoru Amano, Nayuta Okabe, Sōtarō Kobayashi, Kanon Sakuraba, Rin Suzuki, Yuria Nakajima, Kantaro Narita, Sawako Harada, Keitaro Murosaki, Yurina Yamashita
  • 4th Generation：Kaoru Amano, Nayuta Okabe, Sōtarō Kobayashi, Kanon Sakuraba, Sōichirō Nemoto, Nanako Funo, Seiichirō Miyama, Keitaro Murosaki, Yurina Yamashita

※Selected through auditions

Staffs

Musical Director: Dina Yoffe
Assistant Instructors: Yuhi Ozaki, Takuya Tainaka, Mami Nishio, Hiroko Matsushita, Yui Yoshioka, Masaru Yoshitake
Instructors: Arimune Yamamoto
Technical Support: Yuki Ogasawara, Takanori Oku, Hayato Nishioka, Masato Hirano, Naoya Sakabe, Takashi Nomoto
Organizing Support: Kojiro Kashiwa, Momoka Nishimura, Kaori Kuromiya, Momoko Shioki, Sachiko Shiotani
Organizer: Shinichi Furuya (Sony CSL)
Cooperation: Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Management: General Incorporated Association NeuroPiano（https://www.neuropiano.org/）

Contact

For inquiries about coverage, please contact：mea-pr@csl.sony.co.jp

上へ戻る