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Yukawa-Chan Duo Interview
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008. © Copyright 2004-2008 David Bruce
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C:T talks to Cassie Yukawa of the Yukawa-Chan Duo, who play a programme of 20th and 21st Century music at Carnegie Hall this March 20.
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Yukawa-Chan Duo
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Tell us something about your background.
We first met each other on the music festival circuit - local competitions on the outskirts of London & in Surrey, where our families would camp on opposite sides of the church hall and await the results... The top two prizes were always alternating BETWEEN US!! So our rivalry became a massive driving force, which lasted for many years in the the form of a competitive and inspiring exchange, solely through our childhood competition performances!
Tell us about the duo, how it was formed, it's raison d'etre.
Rosey approached me [Cassie] a short while after we had both graduated from the Royal College of Music. Naturally, I was deeply suspicious as to why this girl who had been my ARCH RIVAL suddenly approached to play with me!!! Bursting with curiosity, I simply had to find out what is was all about.. and the moment we played together, there was a massive, undeniable connection: especially with our sense of rubato and the way our phrasing theaded together. It was a huge shock an ecstatic revelation - I vividly remember us both shrieking with excitement.... The potent dynamic between us completely transformed whilst playing Rachmaninov. And so, an unexpected adventure was born.....!!!
Do you focus on playing specific types of music?
More than being drawn to particular periods in time, or genres of composition, we're drawn to music that has a distinct sense of flavor. We are constantly searching for works that create vivid sensations of taste, almost like the sensory blend of experiencing an exquisite meal. Nothing is more exhilarating than glimpsing a sense that something is reaching to be understood from a pattern of black and white dots.
How do you go about programming your concerts?
Each time is very different, but there is always a search for balance and variety. Rather than basing our choices on explicit themes, it's rather a question of putting a puzzle together which can sometimes be lead by the way energy travels through and between the works.
Interview by David Bruce © Copyright 2004-2008
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