From Percussion Instrument Rooms of the World Vol.11｜Russia Ulan Ude Ririko Saito

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●Where is Buryat?

One of the republics that make up the Russian Federation, it is located just north of Mongolia, and is home to a 50-50 split of Buryat and Russian ethnic Mongolians. This theater is one of the few opera houses in East Siberia, and was interned in Russia after the war.JapanIt was built in 1953 mainly by people. It is said that ``No matter what happens, this theater will never be destroyed.''

Most of the members of the orchestra have studied in Russia, such as local art universities, Irkutsk or Moscow music conservatories. There are almost no foreign players other than my husband and I, but the former ballet director was Morihiro Iwata.JapanThere are 6 human dancers.
Sometimes a tiger is called from a brass-only military band. It's not like I'm calling someone because I don't have enough, but rather that I'm doing my best to divide the work day in and day out. There are three people including me playing the timpani and percussion instruments, but for some reason we never call for a tiger, and we just do our best even if we don't have enough hands (lol). The repertoire consists of classical and standard works such as ballet and opera, and there are almost no modern productions that are popular in Europe and America. However, there are some works that are rooted in Buryat culture, such as ``Beautiful Angara,'' and most of them involve loud drums, so it's a bit difficult (lol). There are also many performances for children.

●What kind of life is it?

We perform about 12 to 13 opera and ballet performances a month. Working hours are from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00 on days when there are no productions, but there are times when there are no evening sessions. Until October, I thought it would be easier to live between 10:00 and 13:00, but recently the cold has started to get serious, and I'm glad I moved from 11:00. Mornings are the coldest. Recently, I have been working in -20℃! There is one day off per week and off-season from July to mid-August. As a working foreigner, this is something I am very grateful for. In addition to touring Siberia every June, they also occasionally give guest performances at theaters in Moscow. There are no drinking parties, but if a member of the group has a birthday, we celebrate it in the dressing room. Comes with vodka. "Cheers!" means "Uraaaa!" in Russian. Probably Russia.

●What kind of instruments are used locally?

Most of the wind and percussion instruments in this theater are made by YAMAHA, but when I looked at the website of The Musical Arsenal, a musical instrument store (not a store specializing in percussion instruments), which is often used by individuals in this town to buy musical instruments, I found that the large percussion instruments that stood out were ADAMS.
Regarding prices, even in Russia, where prices are low, musical instruments (not just percussion instruments) are quite expensive. This is because most of the musical instruments are "imported" products. It is very difficult to buy musical instruments with Russian salary...!

●Why is Siberia such a cold place?

It's to make dreams come true. Ever since I was little, I've loved ballet more than anything, and I wanted to do a job that involved both music and ballet.JapanThere are almost no theaters in Japan, so overseas...? I had vague dreams of something like that, wondering if something like that would ever happen to me. I had to make a big decision to drop out of the graduate school in Germany that I had entered, but I didn't want to miss the chance to make my dream come true, so I came here because of my connection.
I feel very happy living a simple and luxurious life where I only think about music and cooking delicious food. I plan to continue disseminating the unknown music life of Siberia in some form in the future!
I also write a blog every day with my husband, who works as a TP player, so that everyone can know what life in Siberia is like, not just about music, so please take a look!

Shiberiage Kijo
Blog of Tomoaki Saito, principal trumpet player of the Russian State Buryat Opera Theater (formerly known as Usudoi Thurant)
 

https://www.tomotrp.com

Ririko Saito (maiden name: Abe) Profile

Born in 1994 in Zushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
After graduating from the Faculty of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts, he studied in the master's program at the Freiburg University of Music in Germany. In September 2019, he became a percussionist at the Buryat Theater. 1st place in the small drum section of the 15th PAS Italian International Percussion Competition. Percussion Tree member.
She has studied percussion instruments with Chieko Sugiyama, Takashi Fujimoto, Sawako Yasue, Taijiro Miyazaki, and Håkon Stene.

*This article was published in "JPC No. 163" published on January 10, 2020. Please note that the content remains as it was at the time of publication.