When we talk about the genre of music called Classical Crossover we often think of western musicians. However, the world also has many Asian gemstones that, when polished, will brighten the world. One such artist is Norimasa Fujisawa from Japan.
“My encounter with music began the instant I was born. I would like to be a bridge which combines classical, opera and pop, so listeners of these two genres can listen to each other’s favorite music.”
Norimasa Fujisawa was born into a musical family and grew up surrounded by music; his father loved classical music and his mother was a Japanese music singing teacher. He later graduated from the vocal department of a music college.
Fujisawa started to learn piano at four years old. He won his very first singing competition when he was an elementary school student.
He composed his first melody when he was in 5th grade, setting a poem from a Japanese Reader to music. That song, named “Tanpopo” (meaning – Dandelion), was selected to be the theme song for the 25th anniversary celebration of the elementary school. The local newspaper called Fujisawa the “Mozart in our town”.
He always joined in singing competitions, including television competitions that were aired nationally.
The destiny of his life changed in 1998 when Fujisawa went to Canada to study over the summer. His blind piano teacher, Ms. Jenny, introduced him to Celine Dion’s music during a music lesson, and Fujisawa instantly fell in love with her music.
Celine’s song ‘The Prayer,’ a duet with Andrea Bocelli, inspired Fujisawa to combine classical and popular music. This was the first step towards his career as a classical crossover artist. His development continued after his father advised him to attend university to study voice.
In 2003, while Fujisawa was a vocal student of the music college, he won a national singing competition. Following this success, he released his first album “Remember” at the age of twenty.
After graduation in 2005, Fujisawa immersed himself into an artistic career. He began as a composer and wrote many songs for singers and groups while even joining the backing vocals himself.
In April 2008, Norimasa Fujisawa released his major single “Dattanjin no Odori,” based on the Polovtsian Dances of Borodin’s Prince Igor, under the Dreamusic label.
Fujisawa developed his style by combining the singing methods of opera and pop music and incorporating famous phrases from classical music and opera into his songs. His unique style instantly won recognition from the contemporary music scene. Fans were charmed by his unique voice, musical technique and style, the message of the lyrics, and his versatility as well as his use of key changes.
Fujisawa is a multi-talented musician who has continued to compose both lyrics and music and also play piano. In 2014, he played four-hands piano with the famous Japanese pianist Takashi Obara. Because of his varied skills, Fujisawa has been called “The Prince of Pop Opera!”
In January 2010, his single “Sailing My Life” (featuring label mate Ayaka Hirahara) became the official theme song for the release of the Disney nature film “Oceans” in Japan. The melody, arrangement, and lyrics were all done by Fujisawa and Ayaka.
Fujisawa took a novel approach to his 8th single involving his fans. The “Nori Nori Big Conference” allowed fans to send him classical motifs that they hoped he would sing. The winner was Beethoven’s “Symphony No.9 (4th Movement)” and the single based on it was called “ Kibou no Uta ～Koukyoukyoku Daikyu Ban～”. It would be the first time Fujisawa would feature a choir. Here again, he allowed his fans to become involved with the “Norismasa Choir” campaign where different schools and local choirs could send their recordings to him. Fujisawa traveled to listen to the various groups before selecting his choir.
In additional to traditional classical melodies, Fujisawa also loves Neapolitan songs and thus released a mini album entitled “O sole mio! Itaria no Uta” in August 2011. This album was recorded during a Fan Club’s event under the baton of maestro Koichi Fujino and the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra.
On 20 October 2011, Fujisawa had the great opportunity to meet David Foster, the world-famous producer. After the concert ended, David went backstage and, remembering Fujisawa from the year prior, asked Fujisawa to sing a song. He chose “O Sole Mio” and David accompanied him. Afterward, David praised Fujisawa and they were able to take a photo together. Fujisawa gushed that the photo was the “most important treasure in his life.”
In February 2012, Fujisawa gained wide recognition with the single “Mirai no Bokura e” the opening song of the TV anime series “The New Prince of Tennis” that became famous in many countries around the world.
After the concert on 15 July 2013, Fujisawa learned about a young boy named Akira who, at the tender age of 6, was fighting a brain tumor. Although Akira was not able to be present at the concert due to major surgery, Fujisawa was presented with a video of him happily singing along to “Kibou no UtaKoukyoukyoku Daikyu Ban.” Fujisawa was touched and promised to sing with Akira someday. Fujisawa keeps a picture of Akira with him in his schedule notebook and looks at it before he performs, Akira’s smile serving as an inspiration to him.
In 2014, Fujisawa was able to keep his promise when Akira and his family attended a concert and they sang “Kibou no Uta” together. Fujisawa was very touched saying, “Akira, thank you. We were able to sing together.”
In February of the same year, Norimasa was appointed to be Music Ambassador for the movie ‘One Chance’ in Japan (‘One Chance’ is a movie based on the story of Paul Potts, who won the first series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2007).
After that, Fujisawa sang a duet of ‘Moon River’ with Paul Potts at the “One Chance Premiere Event” in Tokyo. After they finished singing, they firmly shook hands and hugged each other.
Fujisawa continued to challenge himself by preparing for his first ever un-amplified concert. He worked hard with his voice teacher Professor Dr. Hidemi Kikuchi from Musashino Academia Musicae (Prof. Dr. Kikuchi was the advisor of Fujisawa when he was a vocal student). During the event where Fujisawa sang entirely without a microphone, he was accompanied by Takeshi Obara on the piano for an audience of 300 people.
New changes came for Fujisawa in 2015 when he announced the transfer of his music label from Dreamusic to Warner Music Japan. In August of the following year, he released his 5th album, “Message.” It was well received and went to No.1 on the Billboard Classical Album Chart in Japan for two consecutive weeks.
The track “Raise Veil” was selected to be the official theme song for a showing of “Another Diamond Veil,” a sparkling, shining object imitating Tokyo Tower consisting of 10,000 pieces of Swarovski crystal. It is on public display in Tokyo Tower. Many people around the world who travel to Tokyo Tower will not only enjoy the beautiful scenery but also be introduced to Fujisawa’s music at the same time.
In September 2017, Fujisawa’s 14th single “Stay forever ～Anata wo Mamoritai / Dundee Hitsuji Shitsuji” was released. Fujisawa recorded the song with a few vintage microphones in Japan. It is the same series of microphone that Celine Dion used in her recordings. The song was later selected for the popular music program (running for over 50 years) NKH TV and radio (Songs for Everyone). Fujisawa once again got his audience involved by holding a dance competition for the song. The winner joined him in Sheep Butler costume at the FC Event stage.
For three years, Fujisawa has been selected to perform with the Fantasy on Ice show. It is a figure skating event that attracts not only Japanese artists but top athletes from around the world.
2018 saw major changes for Fujisawa who announced on his official blog that he is now an independent artist. Although there have been varied opinions about his choices, Fujisawa’s fans are excited for him and promised to always be supportive. This year marks the 10th anniversary of his major debut and his fans are very proud to have followed him through this journey. His intense passion for singing is what will remain the fans’ favorite aspect of Fujisawa. They believe his music has improved their life and has given joy and a healing spirit to many people. The delicacy of his music draws with miraculous touch and richness of coloring.
On September 5th Fujisawa released his 6th studio album “Pop Opera Meikyoku Album.” It is his first album of covers and features Japanese songs from the 70’s and 80’s. The album was produced by Satoshi Takebe (who also plays piano on the recording). Fujisawa said all of his emotions and wishes are in his new original song, “AVANTI-La vita è bella.” Fujisawa also recently appeared in a commercial for SANKYO featuring an arrangement of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstances.”
Fujisawa’s fans trust he will continue to do well in the music business because of both his talent in music and that he continues to produce music to a high standard. They also appreciate his personality itself: humble, polite, gentle, generous, and heartwarming. There is a splendid aura that surrounds him when he holds the microphone up to sing.
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