Kah-Chung Wong [Principal Guest Conductor] to become Principal Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (from September 2023)
The Japan Philharmonic Orchestra will welcome Kah-Chun Wong (currently Principal Guest Conductor) as its Principal Conductor from September 2023. The term is scheduled to be five years.
The group plans to hold 12 concerts a year, including three regular Tokyo concerts at Suntory Hall, and will deliver music to every corner of Japan, including Kyushu. They also hope to travel to Asian countries that the Japan Philharmonic has not yet visited.
We hope that the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra will not only continue to perform orchestral concerts, but also actively participate in the social contributions, educational and community activities that are a major feature of the orchestra, as well as the "Music for Disaster Areas" project being carried out in the Tohoku region.
Please look forward to the future of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and its next chief conductor, Kah-Chung Wong, who is a modernist yet carries on the good old traditions.
The press conference will be released at a later date.
Message from Kah-Chun Wong I am honored and humbled to be able to work more closely and deeply with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra than ever before. I always conduct every concert as if it were my last on Earth. That's why I want to make sure that every note the composer has sung resonates in the hall without missing a beat. I strongly believe that with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, we can share this aspiration and make it come true. My repertoire includes works by Mahler, Bartók, Sibelius, Hosokawa, Takemitsu, and Ifukube, as well as my favorite composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Rachmaninoff. I'm also deeply drawn to lesser-known works by Kalinnikov and Myaskovsky. Of course, each composer has their own unique sound. However, if I had to say, my ideal orchestral sound would be like a "Showa pudding"—very rich and luscious, not too sweet, with a touch of mature bitterness and a firmness. If it's too soft, the sound's contours and structure become unclear. It shouldn't be creamy like gelato or fluffy like a rare cheesecake. Together with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, I hope to create a sound reminiscent of this "Showa pudding." I am grateful for the trust that everyone at the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra has placed in me, and I will continue to work hard to create music that is richer than ever before. |
"Upcoming Concerts"
■740rd Tokyo Regular Concert
Friday, September 27th and Saturday, September 28th, 2022, Suntory Hall
Piano: Keigo Tsugawa*
Soprano: Rie Miyake**
Akira Ifukube: Ritomica Ostinata for piano and orchestra*
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major**
[Streaming] https://members.tvuch.com/member/classic/161/
■135th Saitama Regular Concert
Saturday, January 14, 2023, Saitama Kaikan
■ The 399th Masterpiece Concert
January 15, 2023 (Sun) Suntory Hall
Guitar: Muraji Kaori
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"
■747rd Tokyo Regular Concert
January 20th (Fri) and 21st (Sat), 2023, Suntory Hall
Akira Ifukube: Sinfonia Tapkara
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
■384th Yokohama Regular Concert
Saturday, September 28, 2023 Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall
■ The 244th Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Series
Sunday, September 29, 2023 Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
Piano: Yu Kosuge
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
■750rd Tokyo Regular Concert
Friday, September 12th and Saturday, September 13th, 2023, Suntory Hall
Cello: Haruma Sato
Myaskovsky: Symphony No. 21 "Symphonic Fantasy"
Akutagawa Yasushi: Concerto Ostinato for Cello and Orchestra
Janacek: Sinfonietta
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Past collaborations
■728rd Tokyo Regular Concert
Friday, March 5th, 2021 at 3pm, Saturday, March 6th, 19 at 14pm Suntory Hall
Oboe: Yukiko Sugihara [Principal Oboe of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra]
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony
R. Strauss: Oboe Concerto
ベートーヴェン:交響曲第6番
■736rd Tokyo Regular Concert
Friday, March 10th, 2021 at 12pm, Saturday, March 11th, 19 at 14pm Suntory Hall
Trumpet: Ottaviano Cristofoli
Arutunian: Trumpet Concerto
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
[Streaming] https://members.tvuch.com/v/classic/122/
■377th Yokohama Regular Concert
Saturday, May 14, 2022, 5:17 PM, Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall
Suginami Public Hall Series 2022-23 1st
Sunday, May 15, 2022, 5:15 PM, Suginami Public Hall
Violin: Minami Shion
Mozart: Overture to the opera "The Abduction into the Seraglio"
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Dvorak: Symphony No. 7
[Streaming] https://members.tvuch.com/member/classic/160/
＜Ka-Chung Wong appointed as Principal Conductor. Mahla: Symphony No. 5 rehearsal video＞
Kah-Chun Wong Profile
Singaporean conductor Kahchun Wong is the Principal Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.
Described by Musical America magazine as "deeply musical and sincere," Wong rose to international prominence in 2016 when he won the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition.
Highlights for 2021/2022 include debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra; return appearances with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Valencia, and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra; and a performance of "Takemitsu Toru: Arc," featuring Takemitsu's rarely performed "ARC." The 2020/2021 season also includes a media-acclaimed debut with the New York Philharmonic, debuts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as appearances with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National d'Ile-de-France, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
A beloved student of the late Kurt Masur, Wong often shared the podium with him in his later years. In 2016/17, he was inducted into the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Dudamel Fellowship Program. He also holds a Master of Music in Orchestral and Opera Conducting from the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin.
Throughout her own journey as a musician from Southeast Asia, Wong has a strong belief in the power of music to inspire and elevate people. In 2016, she co-founded Project Infinitude with Marina Mahler, granddaughter of Gustav Mahler. Working closely with the Singapore-based non-profit organization Child at Street 11, she has supported over 100 children from diverse and underprivileged backgrounds. In 2019, together with BR-Klassik and Stadtsparkasse Nürnberg, she launched the collaborative television project PACHELBEL.VIER.NULL, which raises funds for Sternstunden eV, a German non-profit organization for children.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he joined over 1000 musicians from around the world in a digital singalong of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" for Singapore's annual charity event, ChildAid, which raised approximately $2 million for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and the Business Times Budding Artists Fund.
In December 2019, at the young age of 33, he became the first Singaporean artist to be awarded the Order of Merit by the German Federal President in recognition of his dedicated efforts and outstanding achievements in cultural exchange between Singapore and Germany and the promotion of German musical culture overseas.
2022 June 5
