Recorder31 Day 19 | An Interview with Naomi Okuda

The Early Music Shop: Please tell us a little about yourself and your recorder playing journey. 

Naomi Okuda: I am Naomi Okuda, a Japanese recorder player and teacher. My music career started in Japan as a modern flutist. After graduation from the Music College in Osaka, Japan, I became interested in early music and decided to come to the UK to study the recorder in the Postgraduate Early Music Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Both before and during my studies in the UK, I attended the Dartington and Cambridge Early Music Summer Schools on a number of occasions. After graduation from the GSMD, I returned to Japan and became established as a baroque music specialist ever since, giving recitals, playing with orchestras such as Bach Collegium Japan, and recordings for NHK, Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments and independent labels. At the same time, I have given lessons from children to adult, beginners to advanced players through Japan.  

I moved permanently to the UK in 2010 when I married English harpsichord builder/tuner, Andrew Wooderson. I think many of you may know him? Since then, I haven’t performed as often as I did when I was in Japan, but still maintain some public performance here in the UK and occasionally Japan. I have taught the recorder at Benslow Music Trust, Morley College, Blackheath Conservatoire, Wellington College, and I currently teach recorder privately and at James Allen’s Girls’ School and Alleyn’s School. Meanwhile, I have been working with Bexley Harpsichord Ltd on numerous great concerts in the UK, as well as many BBC recordings and live broadcasts.  

The Early Music Shop: We understand you lived close to the Takeyama workshop when you lived in Japan, and you have collaborated with Mr Takeyama over the years. How did your connection come about? 

Naomi Okuda: Curiously, neither Mr Takeyama nor I recall when or how we first met! The dentist I had been visiting since I was a child was located near Mr Takeyama, so I often went to that area. However, at that time, Mr Takeyama did not yet have a shop and gallery like he does now, only a workshop, so I never had a chance to drop by. I think I gradually became acquainted with them through other makers and performers I knew, or by meeting Mr Takeyama at concerts. However, perhaps because of fate, I was able to help introduce Takeyama recorders in Japan and asked them to support my concerts which they kindly did. So of course we began to see each other much more often as we were both based in Osaka. 

After I moved to the UK, I noticed that a friend from my high school orchestra had become a member of Takeyama’s staff. Unlike now, mobile phones and personal computers were not yet widespread when I was senior school, so when I met her at the gallery after not hearing from her since graduation, I really felt a connection through Mr Takeyama. Now, I continue to work with her as well as our friendship. 

Mr Takeyama in the workshop in Osaka, Japan

The Early Music Shop: What is your experience of playing Takeyama recorders? Are there distinctive qualities about their sound which make them stand out? 

Naomi Okuda: When I was a student at the GSMD, I took advantage of being in Europe to visit various exhibitions and recorder makers’ workshops in search of instruments. However, when I was about to return to Japan, my teacher at the time strongly recommended another Japanese maker. I visited him and placed an order right after returning, but it took a long time to receive the instrument. So at the same time, I also ordered a Takeyama recorder, and for my first recital in Japan, I performed using a Takeyama recorder. 

This is just my personal impression, but Takeyama recorders have a soft, warm tone and are very stable in terms of structure and tuning. Of course, since the workshop uses wood from various countries and regions, it’s hard to say definitively that they always sound a certain way. However, the fact that they are played and cherished by everyone, from beginners to advanced players and professionals, surely speaks to their appeal. Those who have met Mr Takeyama in person at exhibitions have probably noticed that his personality is reflected in the sound of his instruments.  

By the way, I still have and play my first Takeyama recorder! 

The Early Music Shop: We hear you will be representing Takeyama at this year’s London International Festival of Early Music in November. Can you tell us anything about the instruments which will feature in the exhibition? 

Naomi Okuda: Yes, I am representing Takeyama recorders at LIFEM. As many people know, there are always Takeyama recorders at The Early Music Shop's stand, but there will be a different range of recorders at the Takeyama stand this year. Recorders to be exhibited:

Renaissance Recorders  

• Ganassi consort set, A440 Hz
  • Soprano in C
  • Alto in F
  • Alto in G
  • Tenor in C
    • All made of maple 

Early Baroque Recorders

• Flauto 1700 (Soprano), A442 Hz
  • Made of olive/boxwood

Baroque Recorders 

• Olive, A442 Hz
  • Soprano, Alto, Tenor 

• Tamana, A442 Hz
  • Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass

A special feature to highlight this time is the use of Tamana wood. Tamana grows in the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The trees were first planted around a hundred years ago as windbreaks, but some have since fallen due to typhoons or age, whilst others were felled for local safety. When the wood was tried for making recorders, its ease of working and fine tone proved to suit the instrument remarkably well. This is why Mr Takeyama became involved in the conservation project. Recorders made of Tamana have a grain resembling rosewood, yet they are lighter and, surprisingly, produce a powerful sound. 

The Early Music Shop: Japan has a thriving recorder scene boasting several high-quality instrument makers and composers. Have you noticed big differences between the recorder scene in Japan and the UK? 

Naomi Okuda: I do not feel there are many major differences, but what stands out is how active young Japanese performers have become in recent years. During the pandemic, Japan never went into a full lockdown, nor was there any special government support for musicians, so I heard it was quite difficult for them. However, younger musicians, who are more skilled with social media, began sharing information, collaborating, and reaching wider audiences more actively than before, and their connections with instrument makers also grew stronger. In conversations with Mr Takeyama, I often hear that many young, energetic performers now visit makers, ask questions about instrument making, and even make suggestions. I feel this has brought fresh vitality to the recorder scene in Japan. 

The Early Music Shop: Do you have any favourite Japanese recorder music you would recommend our readers play or listen to? 

Naomi Okuda: In Japan, the history of the recorder is practically limited to the period after the country opened to the West (mid-19th century), so both composers and repertoire are relatively few. Personally I am not fond of avant-garde contemporary music, so I don’t much perform works by Japanese composers. However, I would recommend Satoru Nakanishi’s Suite for Two Alto Recorders “Village’s Holiday”, and Ryōhei Hirose’s “Ode I for Two Recorder Players.” 

"Village’s Holiday" is a suite in seven short movements, each with a title and musical character that are distinctly Japanese. “Ode I" is a brief modern piece, beginning on two bass recorders and later moving to alto and tenor – an unusual and enjoyable journey for both players and listeners.

However, both of these recorder works are only published in Japan, so perhaps The Early Music Shop might consider stocking them in the future. (We will look into it – thank you for the recommendations! –Ed.)

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