Welcome to Sophia dell’Arte
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About Yoko Kobayashi
Piano & English Educator
I lived in the Netherlands for 21 years, developing my work in music and education while experiencing life within a different language and culture.
At university, I studied Western Philosophy and Buddhist Studies before moving to the Netherlands to pursue music. Alongside my musical studies, living among people from different cultures led me to reflect deeply on learning, human connection and the way we understand the world.
These experiences have shaped not only my approach to teaching, but also the way I see education. For me, learning is not simply about acquiring knowledge or skills. It is also about discovering oneself, meeting others, and gradually opening one’s heart to the wider world.
1｜My Journey with Music
Music has been an important part of my life for many years.
In 1996, I moved to the Netherlands to study music. I studied Early Music and Musicology, graduating from the Early Music Department of the Utrecht Conservatory and Utrecht University, where I studied Musicology. My academic focus was medieval European music and medieval music theory, including its relationship with theology, with a particular interest in Gregorian chant and the music of Hildegard von Bingen.
During my years in the Netherlands, I taught piano for approximately 16 years and also worked as a pianist in churches and other settings.
Through teaching students with different personalities and abilities, I became increasingly interested in how each person can develop technical skills while enjoying music and finding their own way of expressing themselves.
Over the years, I explored different teaching methods, materials and approaches, always asking how technical development and musical expression could grow together.
Since returning to Japan, I have continued teaching piano in Hyogo Prefecture and have now taught piano for eight years, working mainly with children and accompanying each student in their individual development.
For me, learning piano is not only about reproducing a piece accurately.
Each person has their own music within them.
My role is to help that music gradually find its own voice.
2｜My Journey with English
Living in the Netherlands also deepened my understanding of the power of language to connect people.
Surrounded by people from different countries and cultural backgrounds, English became an important bridge through which I encountered the wider world.
Since returning to Japan, I have taught English for seven years. I have continued to study language education, particularly early childhood language development, pronunciation and meaningful approaches to English learning.
My studies have included programmes offered by the British Council, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Queensland University of Technology. I have also studied Waldorf/Steiner approaches to language education and continued my learning in global and educational fields as a National Geographic Educator and SEE Learning Facilitator.
For me, English is more than a school subject.
Language is another way of meeting the world.
Through language, children can encounter different cultures and ways of thinking, listen to perspectives different from their own, and gradually become more comfortable connecting with people beyond their immediate world.
3｜What I Have Learned About Education
As I continued teaching music and English, my interests gradually expanded beyond the question of what to teach toward a deeper question: How do human beings grow and develop?
Over many years in the Netherlands, I studied Waldorf/Steiner education and encountered approaches that place importance on art, nature and embodied experience. I have continued learning about social and emotional learning, global education, sustainability, gratitude and other approaches to the development of the whole person.
I have also explored questions surrounding human consciousness, the inner life, spirituality and leadership.
These experiences have strengthened my belief that education is not only about knowledge and technical ability.
It is also about:
learning to notice.learning to imagine.finding one’s own way of expressing oneself.and learning to recognise and respect what is different from ourselves.
4｜Beyond Piano & English
For me, education does not end in the classroom.
Music, art, culture and encounters with nature can all become meaningful forms of learning.
In 2019, while reflecting on the challenges facing children in Japan, I reached out to members of the Steiner/Waldorf educational community in the Netherlands. This led to visits to schools and kindergartens, as well as conversations with educators, school leaders and parents.
During the same journey, I also visited hospices and a residential care facility for older people, speaking with people involved in care, spiritual support, coordination, music therapy and palliative care. These encounters gave me an opportunity to reflect more deeply on what it means to value and care for life.
Following this experience, I gave a presentation and prepared a report on Steiner education and hospice care in the Netherlands. It also led to a project called Harmonia Circle — Circle of Life, exploring a deeper awareness of the value of life.
Since then, I have continued to create activities that bring together music, art, culture and care for the natural world. These have included Christmas of the Light, a seasonal celebration incorporating cultural traditions and crafts, as well as musical and artistic projects inspired by Creation, our relationship with the Earth, and our shared responsibility for the world.
These activities are not separate from my work in piano and English.
From music to art.From art to nature.And from nature to our connection with people and the wider world.
This is the kind of learning environment I hope to nurture.
5｜Journey of Learning
Teaching has taught me that I am also always a learner.
I continue to learn through music, through my students, through encounters with people from different cultures, and through the questions that arise from living in an ever-changing world.
I hope to use what I have learned—and what I continue to discover—to create a learning environment where each child can develop at their own pace, find their own voice, and gradually open their heart to the wider world.
Through music and language, may we open our hearts and connect with the world.
“Through music and language,
may we open our hearts
and connect with the world.
-- Yoko Kobayashi