Press conference held for the 50st Kyushu performance

The "50th Kyushu Performance Press Conference" was held at ACROS Fukuoka on Wednesday, December 11, 2024.

Speakers:
Kah-Chung Wong (Principal Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra) *Interpreter: Ayako Ono
Toshikuni Hirai (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra)
Hideo Kono (President of the Nagasaki Japan Philharmonic Association)

Chairman Hirai:

On behalf of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this press conference today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's Kyushu concerts. This 50th anniversary marks a historic milestone, kicking off in Nagasaki on February 8, 2025. First, I would like to express my gratitude to the Kyushu volunteers and executive committee members who have supported this history, as well as the many people and halls who have supported this activity in various regions. In 1975, when the region was in dire straits, local residents stepped up to invite the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in Kyushu. They worked tirelessly to promote music in their communities, even visiting individuals individually to sell tickets. It's fair to say that our 50-year history was built on the passion, determination, tears, and sweat of the executive committee members across Kyushu, which inspired the members of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. The Japan Philharmonic Orchestra is truly blessed. I would like to express my gratitude once again for allowing us to continue this unique musical activity for so long.

I am delighted to announce and introduce this special conductor and soloist, so fitting for this 50th anniversary. First and foremost, I am truly delighted to welcome the world-renowned maestro and principal conductor, Kah-Cheng Wong, to our 50th anniversary celebrations. This world-renowned maestro, who won the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition, conducted Mahler's Symphony No. 3 at his inaugural concert as principal conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, marking a significant debut in the Japanese classical music industry. He has said of Mahler's music, "It always pursues extremes in life; when it's described as heavy, it demands something truly heavy; when it's passionate, it demands ultimate passion. I hope to continue to create that with the Japan Philharmonic." This truly reflects Kah-Cheng's creative approach.

He is a huge fan of Akira Ifukube. He has studied the greatness of Japanese composers and is taking action, saying he wants to share his work with the world. He went to the Tokyo College of Music and searched for Ifukube's literature. I accompanied him and visited the Ainu people of Hokkaido, who are said to have had a musical influence on Ifukube. We chatted with the Shiraoi Ainu, enjoyed a meal (homemade by the Ainu), songs, and dances, visited the Akan Ainu (Ifukube's hometown is Kushiro), and participated in the Himemasu Festival, a festival to express gratitude to the Himemasu. I was completely captivated by his research ethos and sincere approach to digging deep into things. I was able to sense the vast world of Kartun, a man who is spreading his wings and soaring out into the world.

Although the program this time is not Mahler, it will feature Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Elgar's Pomp and Circumstances, and I'm sure they will present a vast, colorful world.

The soloists are Ikuyo Nakamichi and Dai Miyata. Expectations are high for these two internationally active representatives of Japan. Nakamichi and Ikuyo performed together on the Japan Philharmonic's overseas tours in 1990 and 91, so it's safe to say they share a special bond. This time, we'll be performing Chopin's Concerto No. 1. Nakamichi has said, "When I listen to music, my heart is moved, my soul trembles, and then I feel like I want to move my body too. Being moved can also give people strength. I want to believe in what these things can bring us. I would be delighted if they could bring about some kind of transformation." As you know, their performances are truly magnificent. I'm looking forward to music that will reach deep into the soul.

This is Miyata Dai's second Kyushu tour. His last performance was Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Its brilliance still rings in my ears, but this time he's performing Elgar. The Western version of his "Elgar: Cello Concerto" with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra won the prestigious OPUS.KLASSIK Award, making this a favorite piece that has made him famous around the world. There's no doubt he'll captivate. "When I play the cello, I can express more of what I want to say than when I'm speaking. I think the emotions inside me, like how sad or happy I feel, are best expressed through my instrument," he said. Anticipation is building.

The Kyushu performances are the starting point of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's musical activities. We see "warmth" and "being close to people" as the orchestra's colors, and our experience in Kyushu led to the "Sound for the Disaster Areas" initiative after the Great East Japan Earthquake, which won us the Goto Shinpei Award and has now reached 357 performances. We believe this experience will provide significant inspiration for our next regional activities in Kyushu's 50th anniversary. We look forward to discussing this in depth with the Kyushu Executive Committee. Finally, let's experience even more than ever before a strong heart-to-heart exchange with the local people, an exchange of hearts through music.

Kar-Chung Wong:

First of all, I am extremely honored to be a member of the JPO. We first performed together in 2021, and I have been its Principal Conductor since last September, but with so many concerts under our belt, it feels like it has already been more than three years.

Fifty years is half a century. It is truly special that I am now a part of this organization, the JPO, and that I have the opportunity to be involved in the Kyushu tour that the JPO has been continuing uninterrupted for 50 years. Looking around the world, how many cases can you imagine of an organization touring continuously for 50 years? Probably very few. And we have executive committee members like Mr. Kono who have walked this history with us for 50 years. It is truly moving to be a part of this living history.

Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture as a whole. My time with the JPO has not only been an experience of creating music, but also an experience of learning, immersing myself, and becoming a part of the Japanese culture of music and art. As Chairman Hirai mentioned earlier, in July I traveled to Kushiro and Lake Akan in Hokkaido to gain a deeper understanding of the Ainu people and their culture, which is deeply connected to music. I was also honored to visit the Tokyo College of Music with Mr. Goto (Executive Director of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra) and have the opportunity to view rare sheet music in the university library. Through these experiences, I believe the JPO can be said to be a kind of guardian of the tradition of Western classical music in Japan.     

So, what do Gustav Mahler and Akira Ifukube have in common? I believe the JPO exists as a crossroads between East and West. And when I think about what Hokkaido, Tokyo, and Kyushu have in common, I think it's their respect and love for culture and tradition. And when I connect this idea to the Kyushu tour, touring nine cities in two weeks and giving concerts is something very special, and I feel deeply honored to be a part of such an endeavor. I look forward to visiting the "hometowns" of each of Kyushu's various prefectures.

Hideo Kono (President of the Nagasaki Japan Philharmonic Association):

Last month on Labor Thanksgiving Day, November 23rd, I received a Prefectural Citizen's Award at the Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly Hall for continuing my activities since the first event, and so I am now giving a talk about it. There are several people who have been involved since the first event, including Ito-kun from Oita.

I think it was early May, but Ito-kun was sitting next to me at a meeting about the second concert at KBC after the first concert, and he told me that he had given birth to a daughter. I still vividly remember hearing that they were twins, and I just checked and it turns out that his daughter is 49 years old, turning 50 next year. His daughter is truly a part of the history of the Japan Philharmonic. We have worked together in various ways for 50 years.

To put it simply, the reason for the Japan Philharmonic's Kyushu concerts was that young people working in Kyushu, who were working for commercial broadcasters, decided to support the Japan Philharmonic, an orchestra facing a crisis due to the loss of support from Fuji Television. At first, support was mainly focused in the Kansai region, but they also wanted to support the orchestra in Kyushu. Makoto Hoshino, chairman of KBC's Advertising Conference, was the one who loudly advocated for it. So, we decided to do it just once. The meeting was held in Saga. It was attended by young people, mostly from labor unions. As a student, I had sold 1200 tickets for a concert by my university band, so I emphasized that if a certain number of people just acted stupid, the concert or event would be successful. So I acted stupid and did my best for the first concert. And so the Kyushu concerts began. Coincidentally, the opening night of the first concert was at Nagasaki City Public Hall. What's more, the chairman of the Japan Philharmonic's steering committee at the time was Shinji Matsumoto (viola), a native of Nagasaki. We knew we had to work hard for Matsumoto, so young people who had almost no connection to classical music sold tickets, which were priced at 2500 yen and 2000 yen at the time, to labor unions and various other organizations, and many people, including an old man who worked at a fishmonger, bought tickets, saying that if a young person like him was working hard, they would buy them.

January 27, 1975, was the opening day of our first Kyushu concert. The Nagasaki City Public Hall was a sellout, with 1750 seats and 50 standing. The sound of Finlandia, conducted by Akio Watanabe, playing in the hall at that time is still fresh in my mind, and that moving performance undoubtedly inspired my subsequent activities. It was truly a sellout. After the concert, many of the audience members were smiling and saying things like, "Good job! Let's do it again next year!" We had said we would only do it once, but with such a large turnout, we decided to do it again next year. For the first few years, our audience consisted mostly of young people from commercial broadcasting stations and labor unions. Over the next two or three years, however, the number of people who loved classical music in each region and wanted to support the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra grew, and this led to the formation of Japan Philharmonic Associations, a kind of community organization, in various regions.

The Nagasaki City Public Hall was closed for about ten years from 57 due to construction work. So, even though I wasn't a member of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra or a member of the steering committee, I went to halls around the prefecture to ask about dates and rent prices, and I also went to the town halls of Kawatana and Sada to ask how much it would cost to invite the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. I negotiated directly with them and mediated the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's performance fees, and they agreed. That's how the Kawatana and Sada concerts were decided. For the first ten years, I poured a lot of energy into the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. At the time, I was also working as an evening news anchor, so fortunately, they knew about me, even though they didn't know about me. So things went relatively smoothly.

A lot has happened since then. The chamber music performance prior to the Kyushu performance is now called a pre-concert, and I have many memories of that as well. I also went to hospitals and, of course, many schools. When I performed in front of the visually impaired children at a school for the blind, they stared intently, wondering what kind of instrument I was playing. It was truly moving. Once, when I went to the hospital, a patient came in in his pajamas and thanked me with tears in his eyes, saying how glad he was to have been able to hear such a performance while he was still alive.

A symbolic event in the Japan Philharmonic's contribution to local culture occurred around 1981 or 1982, when a string quartet visited a small wooden community center in Togitsu, Nagasaki Prefecture, that could accommodate about 100 people. It must have been mid-January, before the Japan Philharmonic's February performance. It was an incredibly cold day, but there was no heating or anything. So we placed kerosene heaters behind each of the four string quartet members and performed a concert. The lights shone behind the musicians like fireflies. This incident spurred the Cultural Association to take action, and a few years later, a magnificent concert hall called "Togitsu Canary Hall" was built. Naturally, the Japan Philharmonic performed at the opening ceremony. We performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons, so about 20 people attended. I consider this one of our cultural contributions to the local community. I think many people in the area feel that they dedicated their youth to the Japan Philharmonic. Some may even say they dedicated half their lives to it.

This is me in a Nagasaki newspaper. I was 30 and still had thick, black hair. Now I'm 80 and have no hair. You can see 50 years of history in this newspaper photo.

There are three concerts that left a lasting impression on me from my participation in the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's activities. The first one was by far the most memorable. Then, at the 6th concert, when Pope John Paul II visited, we performed the Oratio composed by Oshima Michiru. Then, at the 27th concert, which marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing, we performed the Ninth Symphony in February, conducted by Kobayashi Kenichiro. The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was held yesterday, and since young people are now supporting the activities of the Hidankyo (Suicide Confederation of Atomic Bomb Sufferers Organizations), we donated 2 million yen from the proceeds of the concert to be used for that purpose.

What is the reason for our 50-year run? It's the passionate passion of the organizing committee members from around the country, who are here today. I truly believe that these 50 years have been possible thanks to the passion of each and every one of you. And it's the power of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's music that has responded to that passion. When audience members leave after a concert, many say, "It was wonderful! Please do it again next year!" Hearing these comments makes us feel that we have to do it again next year. Looking back, year after year, it's the accumulation of these experiences that has brought us to our 50th anniversary. I worked tirelessly for the first dozen years or so. Since then, the younger generation has taken over. Even just looking at the advertisements in the program, there are many people who have advertised in the same way for 20 or 30 years. Advertisers are delighted to see us advertising in the program of this great concert with a 50-year history. It's the accumulation of these experiences. I'm 80 now, so I don't know how long I'll be involved, but I would like to continue as long as I'm healthy.

-Q&A session

①What are your impressions of the music of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra? What are the highlights of the performances of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition?

Kar-Chung Wong:
In today's increasingly international world, there are many excellent orchestras, but they can all sound the same. This is because they are made up of similar musicians who graduated from top schools around the world. They perform at a very high level, but typically with little rehearsal time. As a result, many excellent orchestras have a similar sound, and even if you hear a performance on the radio and think, "Wow, that's amazing!", it can be difficult to identify which orchestra it is. On the other hand, orchestras with unique timbres, such as the Vienna Philharmonic, are easily recognizable. However, many other great orchestras often sound the same.

I come from a young country, Singapore. Our country will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2025. In comparison, the JPO has a 50-year history. You can see how important this is. Starting with our founder, Maestro Akio Watanabe, there is a strong tradition that continues to the present day. Changing this tradition is extremely difficult, but it is also a great treasure.

In a country like Japan, with its strong ties to history and culture, the JPO has the greatest potential to continue to create and develop a special sound. It is an orchestra that can create a sound that is unlike any other. In a world where things move so quickly, there is great value in maintaining a calm and stable state and thinking about history as if it were alive. Fifty years from now, when the JPO celebrates the 100th anniversary of its Kyushu tour, someone will be able to say, "This is what happened 50 years ago." I believe the JPO is that kind of orchestra.

The Japan Philharmonic Orchestra has a long tradition of performing Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, fostered by longtime Principal Conductors Maestro Lazarev and Kenichiro Kobayashi. This tradition is ingrained in the very fabric of the JPO. I have frequently performed Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, even outside of Japan. Recently, whenever I make my debut with a new orchestra, I always perform one of these symphonies. I am therefore very much looking forward to performing these works with the JPO. We performed Mussorgsky in Kawasaki last August and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 a few months ago in May. I am very confident that I can deliver a wonderful and impressive performance of these two pieces.

②The significance of delivering live music now　　I would like to ask the chairman and Mr. Kar-Chun Wong what they think about this.

Hirai:
One experience that really brought home to me how important "live music" truly is was during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were forced to stop performing for four months. Six months later, we were able to perform in front of an audience for the first time. While the performance wasn't under normal circumstances, due to social distancing requirements, it was truly special. I still remember the audience watching us practice. Meanwhile, voices were being raised around the world saying things like, "Music is unnecessary and non-urgent," and "Why do we need to provide aid?" We, too, felt uncomfortable about these voices, but we patiently endured them, feeling frustrated. However, a dry world without music would be so dull. I realized this acutely the moment music was liberated, and when we heard "live music." I strongly believe that this moment symbolizes the power of music.

And one more thing. As I mentioned earlier, we continue to visit areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We began our activities on April 6, about one month after the disaster on March 11, and have made a total of 357 visits to date. During one such visit, two months after the disaster, we spoke with a person at a shelter in Natori, our first visit, where we spoke to a mother who had actually lost her child there. However, after listening to the music we performed for her, she expressed her gratitude, saying, "We're so glad you came." It had been a storm that day, with heavy thunder and rain. Even so, cheers of joy rang out among the victims. The mother told us, "For two months, no matter what happened, I hadn't cried." However, the moment she heard our performance, her heart opened for the first time, and two months' worth of tears flowed all at once. She also said, "I'm glad to be alive," and "I'm glad I have a child and I'm alive." She also said, "Dad, I'll hang in there a little longer."

For two months, many people had been in such pain that they had closed their hearts, unable to even cry. But when they heard music and live performances, their hearts were freed and their emotions began to overflow. This experience remains deeply engraved in my heart. As a music organization, I feel that we must cherish this kind of power. There are many ways to use music, but this incident allowed me to reaffirm the importance of "live performances."

Kar-Chung Wong:
As a performer, I can add to this that in Japanese there is a saying that goes, "ichigo ichie," and whatever happens during a live performance is accepted as a kind of artistic imperfection in itself. In a recorded performance, these imperfections are lost, because of course many recordings are edited.

And another thing is, you can see this in children. I have a two-year-old, and when he listens to recordings, for example on YouTube or on the radio, he shows interest. He's like, "Oh, a violin," or "What is this?" But when he sees a live performance, he has a totally different reaction. Not only my child, but other children too, behave very spontaneously. I think the difference is immediately obvious.

③What are your impressions of Kyushu and its customers?

Kar-Chung Wong:
In fact, before I knew any other orchestras in Japan, I conducted the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra the most with its regular concerts. Since 2018 or 2019, I have conducted four regular concerts almost every year. That's why I have particularly warm memories of Fukuoka. Fukuoka is a place that reminds me of Singapore in many ways, such as the food stalls.

I also love Nagasaki. I think castella is the best Western sweet. It has no cream, it's simple, and it's very delicious. But of course, "Hakata Torimon" is also amazing. Yame tea is also really delicious. Everyone might think of Shizuoka tea or Uji matcha, but I think Yame tea is the best.

Kyushu is a very special place, a land where you can feel the "festive spirit" of a festival always taking place, and I am looking forward to this adventure with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kyushu is a very large area, so my experience is limited to Fukuoka, but I once performed in another hall when ACROS Fukuoka was unavailable. The audiences in Fukuoka are really enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about music. I've been lucky enough to make some friends in Fukuoka, and they sometimes even come to Tokyo or Osaka to see me perform. I think this shows how much love and passion the people of Fukuoka have for classical music.

Fukuoka is one of the seven prefectures in Kyushu, and we plan to visit all of them this time. We believe that we will receive a very warm welcome in every prefecture. We want to deliver the best performance to all the audiences.

50th Kyushu Performance Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in KYUSHU 2025 Performance details here

https://japanphil.or.jp/japanphil_wp/blog/kyushu