Remembering Peter Magadini

When Tomoko attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the mid 1960s, there were fewer than a hundred students. But they were serious musicians, and several of them went on to noteworthy success. One of those students who was a classmate of Tomoko was Peter Magadini.

Peter and Tomoko started their studies the same year. Peter was the only percussionist in the Conservatory. Peter was planning to enroll at San Francisco State University in order to study with New York Philharmonic timpanist Roland Kohloff. However, Roland was not available, so Peter continued to drive up 19^th Avenue when he saw the sign for the Conservatory, and applied there. Not only did the Conservatory want a percussion student, but soon he was able to have Roland Kohloff as his personal teacher.

Peter and Tomoko became musical friends. Peter remembers, “I hardly ever saw Tomoko – she was always coming in or out of a practice room, that’s when I saw her.” As for Tomoko, she remembers Peter saying that Bartok was too hard; Tomoko, on the other hand, considers Bartok as one of her favorite composers to perform. In any case, years later Peter invited Tomoko to do a concert with him, featuring Ravel’s “Chansons madécasses.” 

Similarly to Tomoko, who became a piano teacher after her graduation from the Conservatory, Peter too taught at his alma mater.

However, he has moved several times since then: to Los Angeles – where he joined Diana Ross’s tour band, to Toronto where he earned a master’s degree in music and later taught at McGill and Concordia in Montreal, and back to California. Not only has Peter performed with major entertainers such as the George Duke Trio (which he helped form), Bobbie Gentry, Al Jarreau, Buddy Tate, Chet Baker, Don Ellis, and Smokey Robinson. He was also introduced to polymeter through studying with Ali Akbar Kahn, and wrote two distinguished books on polyrhythms. 

The Conservatory has served as a solid foundation for many musicians such as Tomoko's classmate Peter Magadini. Tomoko has experienced the Conservatory both as a student and for fifty years now as an influential teacher.

Living Music Religiously

Religious music has inspired Tomoko throughout her life. 

Tomoko’s mother was an active Protestant, and loved church music. Tomoko head her mother sing “Jesus loves me” while cleaning house. Tomoko recalls: “Instead of ‘Our Father,’ my religious memories are musical."

Tomoko attended a Dutch Reformed Protestant supported secondary school. There the students, all girls, performed religious music. Tomoko both sang and accompanied these performances. One of the highlights of that time for Tomoko was learning the Hallelujah chorus. 

Religious music also played a significant role in Tomoko’s college life. Behind the college was a cultural center. One of the buildings was the Tokyo Cathedral, which was Dominican. The church’s Fr. Henri taught Gregorian chant; Tomoko and her classmates would go to the church to hear and learn this music genre. Tomoko also played the organ for the church. Close to the time that she graduated, Tomoko became a Catholic, and was baptized at the time. Furthermore, one of the Dominican priests helped her leave Japan after graduation.

When Tomoko arrived in the U.S., religious music again influenced her life. Soon after she began her studies at the Conservatory, Tomoko heard a charming melody floating outside a church door one Sunday morning. Intrigued by the music, Tomoko entered, and was warmly greeted. Parishioners asked, “Would you like to come to lunch?” Later they socialized at a member’s home, where one of the guests mentioned, “My daughter wants so much to have music lessons.” That desire led to Tomoko’s teaching piano in the community. 

As Tomoko has traveled abroad, she has seen how religious music has brought people together, especially as much of religious music is universal.

“In France, concerts are often given in churches.” Tomoko remembers listening to a noon concert in London noon. Brown bag concerts were held at that venue, regardless of the weather. “I went to Old St. Mary Church, and heard a former assistant professor perform with Russians. I hadn’t seen him in 40 years when I introduced himself at the event.” Tomoko thought that the noon concert was a fantastic idea; “People were passing by, and listened in, just 10 minutes away from their problems.”

Religious experiences are often the most profound when shared. Religious music facilitates that communion, Tomoko believes. “That emotion is experienced jointly by the audience, so they have a feeling of belonging. By sharing music, people feel connected and less alone.”

At the end of the day, Tomoko reflects, “God is guiding me.” One could also say that religious music guides her as well.

I have confidence

Tomoko doesn’t mind waiting in the airport, if she can buy a cup of coffee and eat a croissant in the dining area. There’s a certain pleasure. “They have a different taste than at home,” she says. It could be that it feels like a treat: not having to fix it yourself; “Maybe you are paying for the taste,” she says.  It reflects a sense of leisure and luxury, even if it is at a small scale. “It is like buying self-confidence.” 

Self-confidence can happen every day. Having a clean house, making a nice meal, wearing a well-made comfortable outfit, all make one feel good about oneself.

And music can bring self-confidence. Of course, a well-performed recital can exude self-confidence.  But doing a good lesson also gives one self-confidence. Being disciplined in practice builds confidence. Sometimes a challenging section of a piano piece can test one’s self-confidence, but patience and perseverance can help overcome the difficulty – and improve one’s self-confidence, which comes from pride in “conquering” that musical challenge. 

Once in a while, self-confidence can get in the way of music appreciation. “Listening to music in a concern is like judging,” Tomoko feels, especially if it is a piano performance. Being self-confidence can lead to comparisons and dissatisfaction with that concert: “I am better than the performer.” Instead, Tomoko prefers watching skating or enjoying an opera; it’s a way to not feel obligated to judge. Rather, Tomoko can appreciate the skater’s or singer’s own self-confidence. 

Tomoko helps her students develop self-confidence by both challenging them and supporting them so they too can master a piano piece. “The best self-confidence comes from self-competence,” thinks Tomoko. In that respect, self-confidence is no luxury: it’s a vital part of one’s self-identity.