Chihiro Shibayama Rocks ALL of The Drums
Our latest member spotlight features the amazingly talented Japanese percussionist for Miss Saigon
We’re back with another Member Spotlight, because our members are FRIGGIN’ AWESOME and always worth bragging about!
Part of what I enjoy about this job, and in particular this series, is that I get to meet so many interesting people whose lives and work are as fascinating as they are unique. This one is no different!
I recently had a great conversation with the amazing percussionist for Miss Saigon, Chihiro Shibayama. The temporarily revived production has recently ended its run, but the incredible passion that went into it was brought into stark contrast when I met Chihiro in her small percussion room, filled to the brim with every type of drum imaginable.
Check out our chat below:
Tell us about your background.
My mom loves classical music and art in general. I think she wanted to be an artist herself, so she kind of put that on me and my younger sister. We grew up playing music; my first instrument was a harpsichord, which is very weird. You just don’t buy a harpsichord, it’s a weird thing to play for a little kid — usually you start playing the piano. I finally ended up playing that and the piano. I wasn’t a particularly great student; I always loved music, and I was probably good at it, but I wasn’t a prodigy.
But then I discovered the marimba when I was eleven or twelve. I saw a concert and really wanted to play that. That was the first instrument that I asked for, and because I chose it, I really wanted to get better. From then on I got pretty serious and found a very good teacher by accident.
At that point I thought I was just going to stay in Japan, maybe try and go to a college there. But I was feeling pretty behind, since it’s very competitive. At fifteen, my mom, being a great researcher found this High School in Michigan called Interlochen Arts Academy, a full-boarding arts high school. She asked me if I wanted to go to their summer camp and I said, “OK, why not?” I didn’t really think, “Oh, but I don’t speak English.”
There were a lot of challenges. I had to learn to play more instruments that weren’t the marimba. Because in America, a timpani, a snare drum, and a marimba are the percussionist’s core instruments. If you want to be a percussionist and want to go to college for it, you have to know these three things at least. So we had to find a teacher just so I could make an audition tape and send that. I got in, and that was the first time I’d been in America. By myself. The first two weeks I was crying every day, but people were really nice, I just didn’t understand anyone. Everything was so different, even the food. When I first saw Jello, I was like, “What is that? Is that a food?”
Even then everything was fine, because I could read music. My teacher, I’m sure, didn’t know what to do with me, but then he figured out soon that I would be alright — I read music, I just couldn’t speak English. And luckily it’s pretty easy to show a percussionist how to do things the right way — he’d show me things with his hands and I’d just copy. At the end of the camp, they were recruiting for their high school program, and I got in on a scholarship. It was a really quick two-week turnaround. The camp ended in August, and school started in September.
I was there for two years and improved a lot. I eventually got into Juilliard, which is when I came to New York, and got my Bachelors and Masters. Staying here after graduating to freelance. But I kind of have to fight to stay, because I’m still a Japanese citizen, so I have to deal with the visa problem. I was on a student visa for 8 years, and applied for an artist visa afterwards. To do that you have to prove how awesome you are. And it’s a very hard thing to do, especially for me. I basically had to prove that I’m so important to America, that they should give me permission to stay. That’s good for 3 years, and eventually I got a green card. My status in this country is officially listed as “alien of extraordinary ability.” I think it’s kind of funny.
Now I feel pretty good, although I’m less than a citizen, I don’t have to worry about not being able to work, I can take any gigs, and I’m not illegal. I just turned thirty-two, and since I moved here when I was 16, I’ve hit the halfway mark of my life in America.
How did you discover your own niche within the world of percussion?
I’m classically trained, and I’d say my work before getting this job was mostly classical or contemporary music — so-called new music. Musicals were just something that I started to pick up. I didn’t go to Julliard thinking I’d go specifically for that, but I was able to get into this great school and just thought I needed to be a better player. Musicals are very written out, which is what I did in school, and this set-up is basically just playing very hard new music. At contemporary music concerts, a lot of percussionists have setups like this. You learn the music over like two months and end up playing one concert.
Percussion as a genre is very new. Unlike the piano or violin, percussionists don’t have a repertoire written by Bach, or a solo piece written by Beethoven. So we tend to get into new music just because there are more pieces written for us. My mom just wanted me to be successful as a musician. As a freelancer in New York, a musical is basically as successful as you can get beside maybe winning an orchestra job, because it’s very steady. It’s closing but while it’s been open I’ve never had such a set schedule and yet so much freedom.
How did you start playing here at Mrs. Saigon?
Playing on Broadway has been one of my big dreams, but it’s one of those things where you can’t go get it. Actors audition with specific roles in mind, but musicians have to get hired by a contractor who handpicks them. With the music director or supervisor or concertmaster, they all get together and figure out who they should gather for a show. You have to be in-consideration during that meeting.
I didn’t really try to get this particular show, I just think I had to exist in New York City as a percussionist and have a good reputation. I’d have to be in the scene, because most of these recommendations come from colleagues, or people I went to school with. But for this show, this particular contractor actually is an actor in Mozart in the Jungle. In real life he’s a bassist, and he contracts like half the broadway shows in town. I actually played a percussionist extra in that show for the first two seasons. So we’d have like eight hours on set, we’d talk a lot and just kill time that way. We didn’t really know each other that well, but since then he kind of remembered me and this show has a lot of asian drums in it, I think he thought of me and thought I might know how to play some of the more esoteric instruments. That’s how random this field is. I didn’t really know that being an extra on a show would lead me to this. It’s all referrals and having a good reputation.
Do you know what you’ll be doing after Miss Saigon?
I want to know too! That’s the scary part. But that’s how I’ve been living my whole life since I moved here and became a working musician. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried at all, but it doesn’t mean I’ll get no work, just less frequent work and more freedom.
I have a few things lined up. I’m going to Huntsville Alabama to play with a symphony. In February I’m going to St. Louis for new music. Between that I’m going to learn the music for Sponge Bob as a sub. My friend is a great percussionist and he’s making all these cool cartoon noises in real time. Besides that I’m probably going to be living here and waiting for that email or text or phone call. Just like any other freelancer.
That’s it for this week’s Member Spotlight. Check out Chihiro’s website for updates on all of her coming work. Finally, if you think what you’re doing is pretty darn cool and want to feature in your own Member Spotlight, email us at hello@newstand.com.
