We were delighted to find an article written by Nobu on his own website - you can find the original (in Japanese), and his team's photographs, here: https://avex.jp/tsujii/photo/detail.php?photo_group_id=1000621
This is our translation of his article:
"After performing in Liverpool, we headed to Woking, Surrey. I heard that Woking is a suburban town from where many people commute to London. It is only about half-an-hour train ride to London Waterloo.
This performance was part of the Soirées at Breinton recital series. The promoters (Kumi and Lionel Smith-Gordon) open up their own residential home to the audience, and it is here that all their recitals take place. The audience is strictly limited to 50. I once played to a crowd of 100 in Kawaguchi-ko, Japan, but this was even smaller! The intimate distance between the performer and audience meant I would even be able to sense everyone’s movement and breathing, which initially made me a bit nervous. However, in this recital I found myself immersed in performing while being united with the audience as one – a feeling I’d never experienced before. I received thunderous and heart-felt applause from right up close. For my encore, I played Debussy’s Clair de Lune and Liszt’s La Campanella.
As the venue was a private home, I used one of their rooms to change and get ready. It was like I was being invited to a friend’s house, but I felt relaxed while getting myself prepared. After the performance, I was able to receive warm comments directly from the audience members. I also had dinner (home-made by the organisers), with their family. The words ‘at home’ literally suite this venue!
I learnt that Soirées at Breinton has organised more than 100 concerts. Their performers include many prominent and celebrated artists as well as talented young musicians. I felt really grateful and reassured by their support of musicians in this unique format."