FACULTY OF ARTS PIANO CONCERT AT SCHOOL OF MUSIC.

Prof. Sasaki Masayoshi addressing the audience at Bang Na before start of the piano concert on February 9,2004. Rev. Bro. Dr. P. Martin Komolmas poses with Japanese student pianists for a commemorative photo at BangNa campus. Concert Programme Keiko Murakami Sonata No. 2 .........Scriabin Miho Sato Concert Allegro ..........Granados Megumi Yamada Impromptu No. 4 ..........Schubert Taemi Yoshioka Sonata op. 27-2 "Moonlight" ..........Beethoven Shino Takechi Fantasy op. 40 .........Chopin FumiHirata SonataNo. 1 op.1 ..........Prokofieff Ayumi Tokumitsu Sonata in b-minor ..........Liszt

Since joining Assumption University in May 2003 Maestro Sasaki Masayoshi has chaired the newly opened Department of Music Business, regaled audiences with his lilting piano tunes, organized music festivals, toured China and Japan to conduct concerts and training work-shops and on February 9, 2004 mobilsed the services of seven of his students from Japan in a special concert.

Arranged in the splendorous Grand Salon of St. Raphael Hall, the concert was a rare treat for any classical music lover - a glimpse into the finer esthetic sensibilities of young Japanese female artists in an exposition of the classical greats: Scriabian, Grandos, Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin, Prokofieff and Liszt. Each pianist lent her intrinsic charm to the all-time favorites in classical music - feminine touches whose sensations seemed to exude from the innermost crevices of the heart. Evidenthy, it was a splendid show by a great teacher and his gifted students. In his own rendering on the piano, Maestro Sasaki evokes a world of feelings as classical music overwhelms him and his audience into the "spirit ditties of no tune" as Keats put it.

The performance of each student was replete with emotions as the piano keys and tunes touched by the artistry of talent wafted music into the ears of the appreciative audience. While Fumi Hirat and Keiko Murakami impressed the audience with their careful notations of music, one sensed more seasoned interpretations of classical music in the pieces by Taemi Yoshioka, Megumi Yamada, Ayumi Tokumitsu, Shino Takechi and Miho Sato.

Collectively all the featured artists scored through their performances and each reiterated through their renditions that music is in the heart and not in the mechanics. The audience was .treated to the best of budding musicians and their potential for the future. The President Emeritus, Rev. Brother Martin, and the Vice Presidents accorded the artists honor and appreciation and then posed for commemorative photographs. A garden party followed at the lustrous SalaThai where artists and audience spent time reminiscing the music over snacks, served by courtesy of the university

Reported by Glen V. Chatelier