Membership in Tamagawa Academy’s band club is, by design, a rewarding and inspirational experience. As with all non-curricular performance groups in Japan, the club must attract and retain members while reaffirming its institutional and public support. Mr. Tsuchiya and band will demonstrate how social and artistic creativity are used to integrate music into everyday school life, creating a sense of mutual ownership and appreciation between the band club and school at large. The logical ease of assimilating elementary-level students into this nurturing ensemble will be also be demonstrated.
Kazuhiko Tsuchiya
- Biographical Information
Kazuhiko Tsuchiya majored in music education at Tamagawa University, and his first assignment was at Hasse Junior High School. There he established a band club, led the group to the All Japan Band Competition East Japan Division numerous times, receiving gold ratings in 1997 and 1998. He began at Tamagawa Academy’s Lower Division (Elementary/Jr. High) in 1999 and led that school’s Wind Orchestra to the All Japan Band Competition National Finals in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and its return to the National Finals in 2010 for a gold rating. His Wind Orchestra again qualified for National Finals in the fall of 2016. Tsuchiya studied music education and band training with Takeo Yamamoto, trombone with Yoshiko Hakoyama and Nobuo Okino, and conducting with Norichika Iimori. He is a board member of the Tokyo Junior High School Band Association and is an administrator of Tamagawa’s Junior High Division.