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Founded in June 1956, Akeo Watanabe, who played a central role in the founding of the orchestra, serves as the first permanent conductor. With his wide repertoire and innovative performance style, he brought a fresh breeze into the music world at the time, which was centered on German and Austrian music, and caused a great sensation. In 1962, he recorded the world's first complete Sibelius Symphony (conducted by Akeo Watanabe). In addition, world-famous conductors such as Igor Markevich and Charles Munch have made guest appearances one after another, and in 1964 they performed in the United States and Canada with great success, making dramatic progress in less than 10 years since its establishment.
In 2011, he also participated in the Hong Kong Arts Festival with Russian master conductor Alexander Lazarev, who served as principal conductor for eight years from 2008. He has expanded his field of activity to Asia, and has received high praise from all quarters, saying that his playing ability has improved dramatically. With Lazarev, he performed the Japan premiere of Stravinsky's Persephone at the 700th Tokyo Subscription Concert in May 2018.
With Finnish Pietari Inkinen, who has been chief conductor since 2016, he will deepen the program that approaches the essence of German music as a main repertoire in addition to Sibelius, which is a tradition of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. In particular, the complete performance of Wagner's Rheingold, which was performed on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the orchestra, brought to the fore a new aspect of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and became a hot topic. In April 2019, he performed in Europe for the first time in 13 years, and visited Finland for the first time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Inkinen's hometown of Koubola also held a workshop. In Vienna, the performance was held at the Musikverein (musikverein) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Japan-Austria friendship. It was also the Vienna debut of the notable cellist Shek Kane-Mason, which excited the full house. In addition, 3 performances were held in Germany, and 3 performances in the UK as part of the "Japan-English Season of Culture" program, for a total of 10 performances.

The Japan Philharmonic Series, which began at the time of its founding, is an unprecedented commissioning system in the history of Japanese music, commissioned by a wide range of Japanese composers. Many of them have gained popularity worthy of being called “classics”.
Currently, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra conducts "Orchestra Concerts" to deliver high-quality music, "Education Programs" to expand encounters with music, and "Regional Activities" to contribute to various communities through the power of music. In addition to the three pillars, we are carrying out activities to "deliver music to the disaster areas", which we have been doing continuously since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Through these, we will “transmit culture through music”.

Ⅰ Orchestra Concert　　
Regular concerts are held in Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama, and Sagamiono, with around 150 performances per year. Principal Conductor Pietari Inkinen, Principal Guest Conductor Kachung Wong (Chief Conductor from September 2023), Conductor Laureate and Artistic Advisor Alexander Lazarev, Honorary Conductor Laureate Kenichiro Kobayashi, Friend of JPO (Artistic Advisor) ) With Junichi Hirokami as the centerpiece, we aim to further improve our performance skills by offering unique and attractive projects.

Ⅱ Education Program
For children, who will be responsible for the future, we are widely developing summer vacation concerts that expand encounters with orchestral music, and more than 200 school and facility visit concerts where you can feel music close to you. In addition, in collaboration with Michael Spencer, a leading authority on British education programs, we have developed a creative and hands-on workshop that fosters creativity and cooperation through music. We are developing our activities in a multifaceted manner, such as starting a program called “Creating Classes through Music Creation Workshops,” which is an educational guideline for musician teachers.
This activity, which not only expands the opportunities for children to encounter music, but also proposes communication through music, is also attracting attention from the perspective of corporate employee education.

Ⅲ Regional Activities
For many years, he has collaborated with local communities all over the country, working to revitalize communities and develop local cultures through music. Since 1975, Kyushu performances in all prefectures of Kyushu have been in the history, and they are a performance that is created together with the local community by discussing everything from programming to sales with local volunteers. Furthermore, since 1994, it has formed a friendly partnership with Suginami Ward in Tokyo, and has been developing community-based activities such as the "Suginami Public Hall Series" and "Musical Instrument Classes for People Over 60."
In April 2011, we launched the "Music to the Disaster Areas" project, which delivers music to the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. By January 2021, it will have exceeded 300 times. Awarded. While cherishing the soil of "getting close to people" and "warmth", we aim to make the most of the various powers of music for all people, generations, and regions.

Japan Philharmonic Orchestra / Forestillinger

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