It's been 15 years since Tamami Honma performed in Utah. The last time she was here, she climbed the stairs of the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, came onto the stage and won first place in the 1990 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition.
Last month, she climbed those same stairs, came out onto the same stage, and performed a recital — this time as a judge for the same competition and the same division (14-18 years old) that she won so many years before.
"Warming up just before my concert brought back lots of memories," Honma said. "Same place, going up the same stairs, same feeling — this time, I was really excited, although I wasn't sure it was nerves anymore. I was really excited about playing in front of all my teachers and everybody who knew me.
"It's very funny, because when I played my recital back here, there were lots of people coming around, saying, 'I was here at your last concert.' If it had been in London, that means that they saw me last month somewhere, but in this case, it's 15 years ago."
Honma wasn't born in Utah, although she spent most of her growing-up years here. Originally from Japan, she was 5 years old, in an international piano competition, when she first met Dr. Paul Pollei. He had come to hear the contestants, and he had an opportunity to speak with her parents.
About a year later, her parents decided to pack up and move to Provo — with two 9-foot grand pianos in tow — so she could study with Pollei. "After two years, we moved to Logan to study with Gary Amano at USU, still dragging along those pianos."
Honma did well, winning first prizes in the Stravinsky Awards International Competition, the Isabel Scionti International Competition, the MTNA Yamaha Competition (National Level), and, of course, the Gina Bachauer Junior International Competition. She also performed as a soloist with the Utah Valley Orchestra, the Mormon Youth Orchestra and the Utah Symphony.
"When I was 16," she said, "I went over to New York to study with Byron Janis, who is now the godfather of my son." She went on to achieve success as a concert artist, performing in such venues as the Bolshoi Hall in Moscow, St. John's Smith Square in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and Wigmore Hall in London.
Honma has a number of recordings, many of which have won critical acclaim. Some have won awards.. She resides with her husband and 8-month-old son in London, where she teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.
Honma's parents still live in Utah, and they still have both of those 9-foot grands.
"I have been coming here to visit my family every year, every two years, something like that, but I've never been able to do something piano-wise, which always felt a bit funny to me."
Much of what she does, she says, involves "circles" — coming back to places she's been and sharing things from other places she has been. She is known for promoting the works of British, Japanese and Lithuanian contemporary composers, acting as a musical ambassador between the various countries where she travels.
"Since I'm always going around in circles I hoped that I could eventually bring back all the things I've learned and all the people I've met in Europe.
"It would be nice to bring over more music from there or do a bit more work back here and introduce more music or teach or do something."
There are also things that she has taken with her from Utah to other places.
"I found that one of the most important things you can do as an artist is to develop yourself as a person. I guess I always thought I got this from Utah, but you have to hang onto your moral principles and you have to be really determined and ready to work hard and kind of balance that with fun in your life."
Honma said she has always been surrounded by people who believe that family is important.
"There's a lot of people saying, 'How can you have a baby, doing what you do,' and I just think you have to. You have to get on with life. Byron Janis always said becoming a pianist and becoming an artist are two entirely different things. You can't be a well-rounded artist if you don't know anything about life, if you don't have kids, if you don't live a life. That was important.
"There are a lot of values that are instilled in kids when they go to school here that I think is missing in a lot of places. I always felt lucky that I had such a peaceful time going through things when I was a teenager."
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com