International Flair

 
"Yamaha is very supportive -- always
willing to listen and very innovative."

-Victor Mendoza on his experiences with Yamaha
and their instruments

"It was a really big change, and I feel I am still adapting to a new culture and area."

-Ney Rosauro on his trials and
tribulations in coming
to the United States

Six international percussionists took a chance coming to the United States to pursue their careers and are finding success everywhere they go.

Brazil native Ney Rosauro came to the U.S. to teach at the University of Miami in Florida, and uprooted his family to make a home here. Mexican-born vibraphonist Victor Mendoza teaches at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, as does Japan native Nanae Mimura, who received her master's degree in marimba at the college. Naoko Takada, also from Japan, is a young marimbist now making her home in Los Angeles when not traveling the globe. Orlando Cotto, born in Puerto Rico, teaches at Northern Illinois University, while Homero Ceron, a native of Mexico, settled in Tucson, Arizona, after completing graduate work at the University of Arizona.

Growing up with music in their veins is something all six of these percussionists share. At an early age they recognized that playing percussion was their life's dream. Some of them began very young, discovering their talents before the age of 10, while the others experimented with music in their teens.

Victor Mendoza came to the U.S. to live with his father when he was 11. "I really wanted to do something with my life," says Mendoza. "I liked the idea of traveling the world and seeing new things." It wasn't until he was almost 20 years old and heard a vibraphone in a performance that he realized "that's what I want to do with my life." But he knew the road was going to be rough. "There weren't many vibe players out there," he says, "and making a living off of it was virtually impossible."

Orlando Cotto, a native of Cayey, Puerto Rico, was similarly pessimistic about a career in music. "I knew in high school music was a big passion in my life," says Cotto. "I asked for help studying the marimba and ended up having to travel 45 minutes by bus to a music school for lessons." Those once-a-week lessons didn't fulfill his need to make music.

Cotto played with the symphony orchestra in Puerto Rico and did some freelancing, but in the early '90s he came to the conclusion that he needed to leave his home to become successful. "I decided that if I stayed in Puerto Rico my whole life I wouldn't be able to play the marimba, because it is not a well-known instrument there," says Cotto. It wasn't an easy move to make, and he had his work cut out for him. Not only was Cotto going to have to get a job and break into the music scene, he was also going to have to learn English.

Nanae Mimura on her YM-5100A marimaba

Ney Rosauro can relate. Rosauro, who studied percussion in 1977 at the Universidade de Brasília in Brazil, knew little English and had three teenagers to consider. But Rosauro's native country offered him scant work, and the bad economy was causing his family to suffer. "It was so difficult for me because I was playing 95% of my concerts outside of Brazil and I was always on the road," says Rosauro. Still, when he was invited to teach at the University of Miami, Rosauro didn't jump at the chance right away. His children would have to be uprooted and forced to adapt to a new culture. Rosauro eventually made the tough decision to further his career as a professor at the university in 2000. "It was a really big change, and I feel I am still adapting to a new culture and area," says Rosauro.

Adjusting to a life in a new country can be just as hard on a young student, who has to balance school, performing, and sometimes teaching while learning a new language and fine-tuning their playing. Nanae Mimura and Naoko Takada

both felt that pressure when they arrived in the U.S. in the late '90s. Both were practically raised on the marimba and were performing solos in Japan by the age of 11. Both women continue to excel on the instrument, but struggle with life as professional musicians in a different country. "When I finished my master's degree, I felt fear," explains Mimura, "because that was the first time in my life that I wasn't a student. I had no idea what I was doing as a teacher." Mimura, who is finishing her second year as a teacher at Berklee, took the challenge in stride. "I couldn't explain my technique very well," she says. "I realized that I had developed my own technique at the age of three and I had to sit down and look at how my fingers and my wrists were moving."

Homero Ceron, whose original plan after completing his studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in
Milwaukee was to return to Mexico to do freelancing and studio work, became aware of an opening in Arizona. As
a timpanist with the Tuscon Symphony Orchestra, Ceron had to adjust to life in another new state. "Two years after I graduated I found myself growing with Tuscon," says Ceron. "It's been almost 20 years and it turned out more rewarding than had I gone back to Mexico."

Becoming a professional musician in a land with abundant opportunities also meant more choices and more decisions for these up-and-coming artists. They all agree that the choices were overwhelming, and the task of finding a well-known company to work with that was dedicated to designing quality instruments led them all to one place-Yamaha.

The performers often travel outside the country and find that being a Yamaha Performing Artist eases the stress of preparing for a show. "Yamaha is everywhere," says Naoko Takada, who often travels to Japan. "They help me by providing me with instruments wherever I go." Mendoza agrees, "I went to Mexico recently for a concert and Yamaha made sure I had top-notch instruments. That's the one thing I don't have to worry about when traveling-Yamaha always takes care of it."

The quality craftsmanship put into each instrument astounded the percussionists. "In 1994, I was in the market for a set of timpani and I did a lot of research," says Ceron. "Everything seemed to point to Yamaha drums." Cotto fell in love with the Yamaha 6000 as soon as he saw it. "I was shocked and amazed by the size and sound of it," says Cotto.

Both Takada and Mimura, who stand just five feet tall, were looking for a marimba that they could easily access, and Yamaha provided it. "I have short arms," explains Takada. "The Yamaha 5100A became my first choice." Mimura agrees, "My hands are tiny and the new keyboard size is smaller. The sound is more sustained and it has an organ sound with more resonance."

"The number one reason I started playing a Yamaha vibe was because of the sound," says Mendoza. "It projects very clearly. It's not brittle, you can control the sound, and it has a nice full tone."

Working with Yamaha has also proven helpful when their performing careers take them all over the world and they need a company that is willing to accommodate such busy schedules. "The Yamaha people respond quickly,"

"I was shocked and amazed by the size and sound of the Yamaha 6000."

--Orlando Cotto practicing on his YM-6000

explains Ceron. "When I need them they are there." They also like how Yamaha takes their experiences and performance anxieties into consideration when designing their instruments. "I was invited to the factory in Japan as an advisor," says Mimura. "I could see their progress and I gave them advice."

"The Yamaha people are a great support," says Mendoza. "They are always willing to listen to ideas and they are very innovative. They recognize that there are certain things that happen on the road that only musicians would know about."

Despite uncertain beginnings and difficult adjustments, these six percussionists have maintained successful careers in a challenging field. Each has carved out their own niche in their own part of this country. From Boston to Los Angeles, they all have made their mark and followed their life's passion. "It's not a short-term goal," says Mendoza about a musician's career. "You have to be patient with yourself and willing to pay the price because there are so many people wanting to do the same thing." These musicians paid the price-and it paid off.