“Thank you very much for the opportunity to share my story. My name is Sakura Komatsu. I was born in Tokyo in 2013 and first started playing the violin when I was two years old. Although I do not remember it, my violin journey began when I pointed at a violin player on TV and said, “I want this, too.” My first competition experience was in 2019. Since then, I have won several prizes, including 1st Prize at the Cecilia International Music Competition and 1st Prize at the Japan Junior Violin Competition. I also won the Gold Prize at the Shimoda International Music Competition and performed as a soloist with a string quintet in a prize-winners’ concert.
I am currently studying with Ms. Mitsuki Matsuda, who has guided me since the beginning of my journey, and Prof. Kazuki Sawa, the former president of Tokyo University of the Arts. I really enjoy their lessons because they teach me not only violin techniques but also the joy of playing music. After lessons, I always go home feeling inspired and with a sense of fulfillment.
I usually practise for four hours a day, starting with 45 minutes on scales and Sevcik, 45 minutes on etudes, and the rest of the time on repertoires. Before and after my practice, I always do a set of exercises to avoid play-related pain. These also help me to get into practice mode. As I have grown older, it has become very important to keep the right balance between my academic work and violin practice, so I try to think about the quality of the practice rather than the quantity. To improve the quality, I thoroughly read the score and comments from my mentors before playing a piece. I love to practise because I truly enjoy the trial and error process, finding what works for me and what does not. This experiment-like aspect of practice is very exciting.
One of my greatest aspirations is to become good at communicating through my violin as I dream of becoming a violinist who can express the various moods and characters of each piece of music. I would like to enable my violin to sing in many colours.”