Robert Rÿker serves as Music Director of the Tokyo Sinfonia, and Music Director of the National Philharmonic of India.
He has conducted in Baltimore, Bombay, Boston, Bucharest, Calcutta, Cleveland, Helsinki, Jena, Jacksonville, Kiev, Lima, Montreal, Nagoya, Pittsburgh, Prague, Saint Louis, Saint Petersburg, Shanghai, Singapore, Vilnius, Windsor, Washington, and other cities on four continents.
He has been based for many years in Tokyo, one of the three great world capitals of music.
Maestro Rÿker’s warm and approachable style to music makes every performance a joyous experience and a highly professional event for audience and orchestra alike.
He brings a special empathy and affection to classical music to touch hearts and minds of his audience, the neophyte as well as the aficionado. A Renaissance Man, he has honed skills to nurture the audience, the repertoire, and the orchestra.
A Pioneer:
A pioneer and an innovator, he has founded orchestras on three continents – the National Philharmonic of India, the North Bay Symphony in Canada, and the Tokyo Sinfonia.
He created a powerfully effective audience development program for symphony orchestras known internationally as Mini-concerts (in Tokyo these are Strings in the Schools).
He has written over 250 musical arrangements, compositions, orchestrations and performing editions to fill the need for repertoire to build sustaining audiences.
He lectured on Style in Conducting for the Midwest Orchestra Conference in Chicago. He served for a decade as senior music critic of the Japan Times, and developed an international reputation as a discerning writer on music and an accomplished public speaker.
His recordings of works by Bach, Barber, Beethoven, Britten, Dvorak, Gershwin, Grieg, Lalo, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Reed, Schubert and Shostakovich have earned high praise for their balanced sonorities, sensitive pacing and profound expression.
Montreal critic Robert Markow wrote:
“Bravo! a true interpretation, an approach that features firm control of rhythm, accuracy of attacks and releases, good flow and momentum, and an almost classical approach. Refreshing. Excellent orchestra too.”
Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote:
The Beethoven Ninth I found extremely taut, fleet and cohesive! Bravo. Born in Indianapolis, Ryker commenced his professional career at the age of 17 as principal tuba of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
He served with distinction in a similar post with the Montreal Symphony, where he performed some 2,000 concerts under such luminaries as Abbado, Ancerl, Baudo, Böhm, Decker, Davis, Dohnanyi, Fiedler, Fournier, Frühbeck, Giulini, Goosens, Jansons, Kondrashin, Krips, Martinon, Mehta, Münch, Oistrakh, Ozawa, Prêtre, Rudolf, Sargent, Schippers, Schuller, Shostakovich, Skrowaczewski and Swarowsky.
He credits his long association with Zubin Mehta to have been a seminal influence upon his own formation as an orchestra conductor and interpretive musician.
Philosophy:
We recently asked Robert Rÿker to outline what makes the Tokyo Sinfonia such a “very different little orchestra”.
“Sound is the starting point of music. When I conceived of the Tokyo Sinfonia, I wanted to create an orchestra with the richest sound possible with economy of means. As the Americans say, I wanted to create an orchestra delivering the most bang for the buck. To achieve this, I relied on two well-established concepts of dynamics.”
Concert Performance CDs
When I see you in our audiences and hear your reactions, I know that your support genuinely comes from the heart, and is not merely lip service for the arts.
We are often asked about CDs of the great repertoire we have recorded in performance. It would be my pleasure to have you listen also to our CDs, so you can know that the Tokyo Sinfonia really does sound good, and really does touch your heart.
Prices are ¥1,500 for single disks, ¥2,500 for double*, and we’ll pay the postage. Just send an email to us.
The following titles are available:
• Bach Solo Cantatas (Tokyo Sinfonia Players)
• Beethoven Serenade
• Beethoven Symphony for Strings
• Brahms Serenade
• Brahms Symphony for Strings
• Bruckner Serenade
• Bruckner Symphony for Strings
• Mendelssohn Serenade*
• Mendelssohn Symphony for Strings
• Mozart Birthday Serenade 250
• Mozart Birthday Serenade 251*
• Mozart Birthday Serenade 252*
• Mozart Birthday Serenade 253*
• Mozart Haffner Serenade
• Mozart Serenade*
• Mozart Symphony for Strings
• Russian Summer Serenade 1
• Russian Summer Serenade 2*
• Russian Summer Serenade 3*
• Scarlatti Santa Teodosia
• Tchaikovsky The Seasons
• Chorus & Strings (Tokyo Sinfonia Mens Chorus)
• Guitar & Strings (Paul Bankes)
• Piano & Strings (Alexei Komarov)
• Saxophone & Strings (Otis Murphy)
• Strings & Strings (Tokyo Sinfonia Soloists) - See more at: http://www.pricerubin.com/classical/index.php?summarynumber=613#sthash.VR6QDD6o.dpuf
Robert Ryker – Orchestra Builder
Robert Ryker has demonstrated his skills as a master orchestra builder around the world, forming and successfully running international organizations as Music Director in such diverse locales as Canada, India and Japan. Below are examples of administrative documents which he helped author for the Tokyo Sinfonia which show his organizational abilities and leadership in the key areas of fundraising, audience development, youth outreach, and his approach to enhancing the musicianship of his players and assistant conductors.
Orchestra
The Tokyo Sinfonia is dedicated to presenting programmes to raise the standard of performance, encourage the next generation, and develop new audiences for music.
In 2006, Maestro Rÿker established the Tokyo Sinfonia, a string orchestra of highly talented young Japanese musicians. Under his baton, the Tokyo Sinfonia has attracted new, dedicated audiences to such venues as Oji Hall in Ginza, Nagoya’s Munetsugu Hall, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, the Golden Hall of the Tokyo Masonic Centre, and the Great Hall of the Russian Embassy.
Maestro Rÿker and the Tokyo Sinfonia plan a full calendar of hallmark concerts. In Ginza’s Oji hall, a series of symphonies and concerti for strings features seminal contributions to the repertoire in the masterful arrangements of Robert Rÿker. In the foreign correspondents’ club in Yurakucho, an attractive and accessible series of dinner-concert serenades combines a nation’s great music with its traditional cuisine.
The String Orchestra is a vital, sensitive, gorgeous sounding ensemble. There is a dearth of major compositions for string orchestras around which to build compelling concert programmes. On the other hand, great composers have written major works for quintets and other ensembles of strings.
Conductor/composer Robert Rÿker has ingeniously scored a central corpus of magnificent chamber music masterpieces for full string orchestra to fill this void. The results are splendid. A special series of concerts in the elegant ambiance and intimate acoustics of Oji Hall regularly features Robert Rÿker conducting the Tokyo Sinfonia in world premieres of these magnificent symphonies for strings.
The concert series featuring symphonies will be supported by a complementary series featuring maestro Rÿker’s presentations of concerti. The inaugural concert featured principals of the Tokyo Sinfonia in concerted works for violin, for viola, for violoncello, and for contrabass. The program shows off the excellence of the strings and provides a spotlight on the talented players who lead each section. The series has included a rare programme featuring the singing sound of saxophone with the 19 strings of the Tokyo Sinfonia.
Following each performance, the audience is invited to the lobby to enjoy a glass of champagne and chat with the conductor, soloists and members of the orchestra. It makes for a memorable evening to recharge the emotional batteries and remind yourself that the world is indeed full of genuine beauty. Rÿker Associates is proud to present this addition to the musical repertoire for the enjoyment and benefit of the world of music in general, and the musical audience of Tokyo in particular.
Concerts
TOKYO SINFONIA CONCERTS
The Tokyo Sinfonia is not like just any ordinary orchestra. The Sinfonia is unique in Japan, offering enjoyable, accessible classical music for both those new to it, and for experts. It is big enough to make a rich and satisfying sound, and compact enough to be cost-effective and portable.
Our entry-level series is the unique Tokyo Sinfonia dinner-concert series at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan in Yurakucho. Our dinner-concert Serenades are highly important for attracting an audience of people coming to a classical performance for the first time. The programmes have attracted many repeaters, many groups, and many words of praise such as “That was hugely enjoyable”. We have our Japanese Serenade in August, followed by a Scandinavian Serenade in November and a Spanish Serenade in February of 2011.
That is not all we do. Tokyo Sinfonia programmes for musical aficionados include two series at Oji Hall in Ginza and elsewhere: Symphonies for Strings, and Sinfonia Plus. These programmes, too, draw many repeaters, many groups, and many words of praise.
Sponsors
In recent years, as sports sponsorship is losing its attraction, supporting cultural activities is becoming more and more compelling, very often meeting the objectives under a company’s CSR policies.
The Tokyo Sinfonia offers an affordable yet high profile presence before a well informed and discerning public.
Our sponsors are a distinguished group of business organizations and individuals whose support helps us to present engaging musical programmes in a unique way that raises the standard of performance, develops new audiences for fine music, and contributes beauty to society.
A classical music concert presents the opportunity of promoting your brand to our active, upscale audiences through association with one of the premiere classical music orchestras in Tokyo. We are happy to review your objectives to tailor sponsor benefits to your specific interests. Benefits can focus on advertising and public relations, in-theatre recognition, product displays, entertainment options including VIP tickets and private receptions.
Consider also the benefits of block purchasing concert tickets for for employees as one major bank did when they made an advance booking of 200 tickets. These were then distributed under a very creative internal ‘Employee of the Month’ recognition scheme. The bank discovered that this was an excellent incentive campaign that captured the attention and imagination of their employees as evidenced by the appreciation of the many employees who gratefully had the chance to attend our concerts.
In addition, some businesses have found that our concert tickets proved to be an excellent way in which to entertain their clients or to provide rewards under a customer loyalty programme. Our school concerts educational series also offers an interesting way for promotion to a student/parent demographic.
And finally, sponsorship packages can be tailored for individual concerts, a full concert series and for special corporate events.
Diamond Sponsor: ¥5 million
Main sponsor for a 4-concert series or exclusive sponsor for a single event
• logo in the brochure
• logo in the website
• newsletter credits
• logo in the chirashi
• position in the chirashi – premium
• logo on the lobby sponsor board
• products/brochures in the lobby
• logo in the concert programme
• full page advert in the concert programme
• VIP tickets – 10
• Other tickets – up to 50
• pre-concert supper with the conductor
• rehearsal privileges
• artist interviews
• Principals perform for sponsor’s event
• Sinfonia performs for sponsor’s event
Platinum sponsor: ¥2 million
Principal sponsor for a 4-concert series or main sponsor for a single event
• logo in the brochure
• logo in the website
• newsletter credits
• logo in the chirashi
• position in the chirashi – top
• logo on the lobby sponsor board
• products/brochures in the lobby
• logo in the concert programme
• VIP tickets – 4
• Other tickets – up to 20
• pre-concert supper with the conductor
• rehearsal privileges
• artist interviews
• Principals perform for sponsor’s event
Gold sponsor: ¥1 million
partial sponsor for a 4-concert series or principal sponsor for a single event
• logo in the brochure
• logo in the website
• newsletter credits
• logo in the chirashi
• position in the chirashi – bottom
• logo on the lobby sponsor board
• logo in the concert programme
• VIP tickets – 2
• Other tickets – up to 10
You can download a summary of our sponsorship packages in PDF format.
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See you at the Sinfonia,
With every good wish from Robert Ryker and the Tokyo Sinfonia
Volunteers and Interns
What can volunteers and interns do?
• help design and distribute publicity materials and distribute advance publicity
• distribute publicity materials to print and broadcast media
• Assisting with event marketing and promotion
• arrange for interviews and followup; Organize groups (orphans, students, seniors, handicapped) to attend the events, arrange transportation and escort the participants
• help design printed programmes
• print the programmes, and distribute printed programmes to attendees
• videotape performances, edit the videotape, and help us make better use of our music & media assets for promotion and publicity
• Translate materials E -> J and help keep our website and Facebook content up to date
If you feel you can help with any of these activities, either as a volunteer or as an intern then we would love to hear from you.
And as you are reading this web page I am assuming that you have an interest in classical music? However, you don’t have to be music expert and as you can see none of the above require you to even know how to read music.
Rewarding your efforts!
All that’s needed is your enthusiasm and dedication. You’ll meet a great group of people and as compensation for your labors – you will receive two complimentary tickets for all our regular Symphony for Strings concert events at Oji Hall.
Enquiries/applications
If you are interested, just get in touch with us as follows:
Letter: Mari Baba, Tokyo Sinfonia, 107-0052 Tokyo-to Minato-ku Akasaka 6-8-16
Email: mari@tokyosinfonia.com or Call: (03) 3588 0738
See you at the Sinfonia,
With best wishes from the Tokyo Sinfonia and Robert Ryker
Conductors Seminar
During the past year (2013-2014), the Tokyo Sinfonia has been offering a Conductors Seminar under the leadership Music Director Robert Rÿker. The programme was offered in conjunction with the Tokyo Sinfonia’s regular schedule of concerts and rehearsals.
The eight-month Tokyo Sinfonia Conductors Seminar was a part of the Tokyo Sinfonia’s stated mission to raise the standard of performance, encourage the next generation, and develop new audiences for music in Tokyo and elsewhere. Special enabling funding to support the programme was received from an anonymous foundation in Tokyo.
Active participants in the Conductors Seminar were selected from those who had completed musical training beyond the university level, and had had significant professional performing experience. They were provided:
• personal copies of 37 conductors full scores
• access to 37 Tokyo Sinfonia orchestra rehearsals
• access to 8 Tokyo Sinfonia concert performances
• 30 minutes of individual podium time during rehearsals for each programme
• verbal and/or written feedback following each conducting session
• over 30 one- or two-hour review sessions for professional feedback and planning
• observation of personal conducting projects
Two active participants in the programme displayed a particularly high level of professional competence and diligent application in the programme, and were designated as Tokyo Sinfonia Conducting Interns: Takashi Iida, 37, and Takako Yamanouchi, 30.
Takashi Iida was on the podium conducting for a special event at Chanel’s NeXus Hall in Ginza.
Takashi Iida conducted the Tokyo Sinfonia in concert:
• in Oji Hall for the Saint-Saëns Serenade champagne concert, conducting Le Rouet d’Omphale (Saint-Saëns).
• in Oji Hall for the Richard Strauss Serenade champagne concert, conducting Symphony for Strings in B Minor: Adagio cantabile (Strauss).
• in Chanel Nexus Hall for the Équilibre Leadership lecture-concert, conducting Les Saisons: Chant d’Automne (Tchaikovsky).
Conductors Seminar orchestra was led in session by conductor intern Ms. Takako Yamanouchi.
Takako Yamanouchi conducted the Tokyo Sinfonia in concert:
• in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan for the Japanese Serenade dinner-concert, conducting Three Film Scenes (Takemitsu)
• in Oji Hall for the Richard Strauss Serenade champagne concert, conducting Symphony for Strings in B Minor: Presto (Strauss)
• in Chanel Nexus Hall for the Équilibre Leadership lecture-concert, conducting Les Saisons: La Chasse (Tchaikovsky).
The results of the Tokyo Sinfonia Conductors Seminar were carefully considered by the Tokyo Sinfonia’s executive board. It was our unanimous decision to add them both to the Tokyo Sinfonia’s artistic staff, effective immediately. Takashi Iida was appointed as Assistant Conductor. Takako Yamanouchi was appointed as Assistant to the Music Director.
Takashi Iida receives his certificate of participation from Robert Rÿker on completion of the Conductor’s Seminar program (pictured left). Also completing her participation, is Takako Yamanouchi (pictured right).
This Tokyo Sinfonia Conductors Seminar has been made possible by the generous support of a Tokyo based organization that wishes to remain anonymous.
We are most grateful to them for their financial commitment to promoting the arts through education in music.
Music Director Robert Ryker has carefully selected the Tokyo Sinfonia 19-member core string orchestra. With their unique placement on stage, optimal balance and acoustics are achieved through the use of 6 first violins, 4 second violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos and 2 double basses. Principal players are often invited to perform as soloists with the group, enhancing their musical skills, experience and opportunities. - See more at: http://www.pricerubin.com/classical/index.php?summarynumber=613#sthash.VR6QDD6o.dpuf
Maestro Ryker brings years of musical wisdom and experience to his orchestras as a music director. His knowledge of orchestral repertoire, skills as a composer/arranger and creative approach to programming make for a uniquely satisfying combination of selections that please both his audiences and his musicians. Below are samples of his newsletters and blogs he published describing the season offerings from 2013 (click on additional tabs on main page above for 2011 & 2012). In addition to his informative insights into the music, he also has incorporated a carefully selected menu of food for his champagne concerts to go along with the musical theme of his serenades. No wonder his audiences flock to the performances, he has cleverly unleashed the power of food and music!
Tokyo Sinfonia in December, 2012
Posted on December 1, 2012 by Robert Rÿker in Newsletters.
RECENTLY
The Tokyo Sinfonia’s most recent evening at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, an Italian Serenade, was enthusiastically enjoyed by an ever enlarging audience at the dining tables. We may take this as a sign of renewed confidence in the economy, or of the popularity of Italian food, fashion and fun in general, or the constantly increasing fan base of the Sinfonia itself. Whatever the reason, it was gratifying to see the room so well filled with long tables of friends and new friends there again to enjoy the menu, the music, and the magic of the evening.
The musical selections were all by composers of Italian opera, and the flavour of the music was dramatic and singing. The particular selections of Italian music on display though were little likely to be known to the audience in advance.
Fantasia Militaire proved to be a musical melodrama portraying Italian military troops on bivouac. Ponchielli’s music captured the atmosphere of the hustle and bustle of the camp, the calm of the evening, the stillness of the night, the surreptitious approach of the enemy, the alarm by the sentry, the call to arms, the attack, the battle, the arrival of reinforcements, the grief for those lost in battle, and so on. It was great fun.
A concerto featuring the contrabass is likewise a musical rarity. Tokyo Sinfonia contrabass principal Jun Nakagawa’s instrument always draws special attention, and his fans are many. Bottesini’s Concerto for Contrabass & Strings challenges the unwieldy instrument to sing like a soprano, and the interplay of the soloist and the accompanying strings was quite lovely.
Rossini is a household name among opera composers, and he too is, of course, Italian. The Serenade for Strings which we performed was written during an early stage in his career, and it is a charmer. Admittedly, we doctored it up a bit in our own Sinfonia style of orchestration, and added a section for a return to the tonic key which the young composer somehow had overlooked. Forgive him; he was 12 when wrote it. It was the composer’s original musical inspiration though which moved the audience and brought the memorable Italian Serenade evening to a musical close.
PLAUDITS
Our appreciation goes to the new chefs in the FCCJ kitchen for the fine food service we enjoyed. Note that if you haven’t yet been to any of the Tokyo Sinfonia’s National Serenade dinner-concerts at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, please be aware that you do NOT have to be a member of the Club to book reservations for our programmes there. Call us; the contacts are below. We’re there for you.
Our heart goes out too to the makers of Apagard, the most expensive toothpaste in the world. Not only are they our longest-serving Gold Sponsor, but the company always books a full table for each Tokyo Sinfonia FCCJ dinner-concert for corporate entertainment. This not only constitutes support for the orchestra, incidentally, but is moreover a shrewd investment in client relations for the company.
We also salute Gold Sponsor Beacon Communications for their splendid design of the Tokyo Sinfonia’s distinctive logo. Our audience was regaled with a visual display of the design process the Beacon team undertook to come up with the final logo and its implementation in our materials. The design is so classy, in fact, that the Beacon design group plans to enter it in the coming international design competition. We wish them every success.
DECEMBER
Dec. 12, the Tokyo Sinfonia returns to the awesome acoustics of Oji Hall in the heart of the nation’s capital for another in our premier series of champagne concerts in the hall where we sound our best. The musical spotlight will be on Alexander Borodin, the most tuneful of the group of romantic Russian composers known as the Mighty Five.
Some musicians who take up an instrument or sing in their youth as students go on to keep music as an active part of their lives throughout the rest of their lives. These musical amateurs, lovers of music, make up the social heart of society, both as listeners and as occasional participants. Borodin, an eminent chemist, doctor and physician, was a splendid example of a musical amateur of great natural gifts. Nevertheless, his efforts in medical science were his main field of concentration, and his achievements in that field were worthy of a Noble prize before there was such a distinction.
Borodin was a cellist, and, like many amateurs, he greatly enjoyed getting together with a few musical friends to play quartets, quintets, and other chamber music for strings. His music is noted for its strong lyricism and rich harmonies. His musical compositions were rather few: three symphonies, the opera Prince Igor (completed and orchestrated by his friend Rimsky-Korsakov), a dozen pieces of chamber music, a similar number of songs. Our programme focusses on three examples of his chamber music, which we have doctored up a bit in our own Sinfonia style of orchestration.
No other member of the Mighty Five identified himself with absolute music so openly as did Borodin in his two string quartets. That he did so in the company of Balakirev’s Mighty Five speaks to his analytical mind and independent spirit. In 1875, now in his 40s, he started work on his first quartet, much to the displeasure of members of the group. His A Major quartet, featured on our programme as Serenade for Strings in D Major, is stronger still in lyricism and uniformity of atmosphere and expression.
Borodin’s string quintet had been composed in 1860 at age 37 when he was in Germany for chemical research. The work’s folksong-like character and thematic material notwithstanding, its charming, flowing Russian melodies are reminiscent of classical and romantic models.
Composed two years later, Borodin’s Symphony for Strings in C Minor, based on his quintet for piano and strings, was written while he was also abroad during a stint for chemical research in Italy. The composition evokes the Slavonic character of musical phrase and structure which the circle of the Mighty Five regarded as the essence of Russian music.
BORODIN
Dec. 12, Friday, from 19:00
Champagne concert, Oji Hall (Ginza)
Tickets: Group ï¿¥5,500 each; Single ï¿¥6,000
All Borodin programme:
Serenade for Strings in D Major
Serenade for Strings in F Minor
Symphony for Strings in C Minor
Post-performance artists & audience champagne reception
See you at the Sinfonia!
SPECIAL EVENTS
The Tokyo Sinfonia is regularly called upon to perform special events for major companies, chambers of commerce, and professional associations. Our players will soon grace the gala banquet of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, as well as the gala banquet of the Beauticians’ Association of Japan. Our annual Mozart Birthday Concert is a special event for the Tokyo Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.
The 2013 Tokyo Sinfonia Conductor Seminar is due to be launched for a second time from January, thanks in part to the support of The Tokyo Club, another Gold Sponsor. During six months of rehearsals and performances, participating conductors will have to opportunity to observe, to discuss and to participate in the rehearsals, and to conduct a portion of the public performances. Notices announcing the Conductor Seminar will be distributed this week, and enquires are invited at any time.
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS
The music performed by the Tokyo Sinfonia is also special. Every selection we present to our audiences is specially arranged to exploit the sound of the orchestra and the talents of our 19 players. The formation of the orchestra and the exposure given to the players is unique in the world. The stack of Tokyo Sinfonia conductor scores and orchestra parts performed to date — well over 250 works — would make a stack measuring higher than the house.
COMING
Tokyo Sinfonia in January
MOZART BIRTHDAY CONCERT – Jan. 25 (Fri.) from 19:00
Tokyo Masonic Centre (Shibakoen)
The Marriage of Figaro Overture, Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 24 in C Minor
Symphony No. 41 in C Major
Tokyo Sinfonia in February
HUNGARIAN SERENADE – Feb. 15 (Fri.) from 18:30
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (Yurakucho)
Dances of Galanta (Kodaly), Divertimento for Strings (Bartok)
Two Episodes from Faust (Liszt)
Tokyo Sinfonia in March
BACH SERENADE – Mar. 13 (Wed.) from 19:00
Oji Hall (Ginza)
Sinfonia in A Major, Concerto for 2 Violins & Strings in D Minor, The Art of the Fugue
Concerto in for 2 Violins, Harpsichord & Strings in A Minor, Symphony for Strings in E-flat Major
Website http://www.tokyosinfonia.com
… the orchestra of 19!
Join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/tokyosinfonia
Tokyo Sinfonia in January & February, 2013
Posted on January 1, 2013 by Robert Rÿker in Newsletters.
What with the holidays, new government, snow and all, 2013 has gotten off to a start in slow jerks. Please try us again if your tickets orders or other requests have gone unanswered. Apparently we’ve missed some.
Tokyo Sinfonia in January
The opening event of the 8th year of the Tokyo Sinfonia is our 8th annual Mozart Birthday Concert, Friday evening, Jan. 25. This special performance is a charity concert performed in the Tokyo Masonic Center, supported by the Tokyo Scottish Rite Bodies.
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor will be performed with Raul Sunico as soloist. An active performing and recording artist, dedicated teacher and prolific author, Dr. Sunico serves the world of music as Dean of Music of the University of Santo Tomas, and his nation as President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Our evening programme opens with the brilliantly witty Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, a scintillatingly light-hearted work from the opera buffa as different from the deeply insightful concerto as day and night. The overture and the concerto were composed at virtually the same time however, and bear consecutive Koechel catalogue numbers, 491 and 492. Two years later, now 32, Mozart composed his last symphony, Symphony No. 41 in C Major, the Jupiter Symphony, which Mozart was never to hear.
The sound of the full Sinfonia in the warm acoustic of the Golden Hall, and the warm welcome of the Masons make this event an unforgettable experience. Patron Tickets can be ordered through the Masons.
MOZART BIRTHDAY CONCERT
Jan. 25, Friday, from 19:00
Tokyo Masonic Center (Shibakoen)
Tickets: Group ï¿¥5,000 each; Single ï¿¥5,500
All-Mozart programme:
Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492
Concert for Piano & Orchestra No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491 – Raul Sunico, Piano solo
Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)
Artists & audience reception follows the performance
Tokyo Sinfonia in February
Next month, we will return again to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, high atop the Yurakucho Denki Building overlooking the gardens of the Imperial Palace, for another in our “hugely enjoyable” series of dinner-concerts. Combining aspects of both a gracious dinner and an entertaining concert, this perennially popular series is now in its 8th year.
The Hungarian Serenade will be the 29th in the Tokyo Sinfonia’s nationally themed events at the FCCJ, and the second time we will have featured the menu and music of Hungary. Performed between courses from the traditional Hungarian kitchen, our Hungarian Serenade will feature music by three of Hungary’s most eminent composers – Bela Bartok, Zoltan Kodaly, and Franz Liszt. The musical selections will be performed between courses of traditional cuisine from the Hungarian kitchen: Catfish Salad with Dill Sauce, Sautéed Pork Loin with Bellpepper Sauce, and Hungarian Palatschnike.
The favourite among the ladies may well be Liszt’s delightfully evocative Two Scenes from Faust, set in the sensuous sound of the strings. Bartok’s dramatic Divertimento for Strings will appeal to the men in our audiences. And Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta sets the earthy Hungarian gypsy tone for the evening.
HUNGARIAN SERENADE
Feb. 15, Friday, from 19:00
Yurakucho Denki Building (Yurakucho)
Tickets: Group ï¿¥8,445 each; Single ï¿¥9,335
Menu: Catfish Salad with Dill Sauce
Music: Dances of Galanta (Kodaly)
Menu: Sautéed Pork Loin with Bellpepper Sauce
Music: Divertimento for Strings (Bartok)
Menu: Hungarian Palatschnike
Music: Two Scenes from Faust (Liszt)
4-concert subscriptions are available, with special seating and VIP perks. Other seating is prioritized according to the date of the initial order.
See you at the Sinfonia!
THERE WE GO AGAIN
The Tokyo Sinfonia’s perennially popular dinner-concerts continue to inspire gorgeous special events for associations, chambers, clubs and upscale hotels in and out of Tokyo. Our annual Fireworks Serenades in Yokohama have generated audiences of over 400 at the dining tables. To the delight of the large audience, we positioned the stage in the center of the ballroom, Shakespeare style, and turned the orchestra to different positions at intervals in the programme.
Our next such special event is for more than 500 of the foremost beauticians of Japan. The programme calls for four courses of beautiful music intertwined between a five-course dinner. The musical programme features a nostalgic traditional Japanese folksong, a spirited movement of a classical symphony, a dazzling violin showpiece, and a dessert of four delightful musical miniatures.
The Tokyo Sinfonia was deliberately designed to be cost-effective, elegant, flexible, and portable. We are ready to get on the road for you too. Just ask us. We’d be delighted.
COMING:
Tokyo Sinfonia in March
BACH SERENADE – Mar. 13 (Wed.) from 19:00
Oji Hall (Ginza)
Sinfonia in A Major, Concerto for 2 Violins & Strings in D Minor, The Art of the Fugue
Concerto in for 2 Violins, Harpsichord & Strings in A Minor, Symphony for Strings in E-flat Major
Tokyo Sinfonia in March, 2013
Posted on February 18, 2013 by Robert Rÿker in Newsletters.
The entire orchestra is eagerly looking forward to our next champagne concert in Oji Hall, Wednesday evening, March 13, celebrating the great violinist, concertmaster, and composer without peer, Johann Sebastian Bach. We could be seen too as celebrating the abundant talent in the ranks of the Tokyo Sinfonia. We are pulling out all the stops for a rather spectacular evening of inspiringly great music.
Bach’s 20 children regarded their bewigged father as stodgy and old-fashioned. He was. But the eternal heart, soul, and spirit of the music “the old perruque” gave the world will surely inspire mankind for as long as there are listeners to hear it.
His first employment as a professional musician, like that of many others who became great composers, was as a violinist in an orchestra. He rose through the ranks to soon become the orchestra’s concertmaster and director of music. His knowledge of the instruments was profound, and his virtuosity as a performer was superb.
So why did he not produce more of those splendid concertos and orchestra pieces we would like to hear and perform? Let us consider:
Bach was the foremost organist in the nation, and he wrote new works throughout his lifetime for virtuoso recitals on organs he inspected in the churches and cathedrals of Germany. He was deeply committed to producing a great body of music for the church, and it takes time to compose, rehearse and conduct different music for dedicated church services every week, year in and year out. He was a devoted teacher, continually finding time to create didactic works which could lead students of every age through their own paths of discovery. It takes time too to produce, support and nurture a family of 20 children, a half dozen of whom went on to become eminent musicians in their own right. It also takes time to battle the stupidities and obstacles of those normal people on church and city councils whose prosaic priorities could not encompass the visionary intentions of their stubbornly obstinate, quick-tempered Kapellmeister.
So let us be grateful for the several works for orchestra which posterity has managed to preserve for us.
While serving as Music Director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig in his 50s, Bach began the composition of a third, richly orchestrated concerto in D major featuring the solo violin. Only one movement, Sinfonia, was completed. We offer it to you in our own special Tokyo Sinfonia version, which we believe would have delighted Bach himself. As a busy, pragmatic composer, he often drew on his own earlier compositions (as well as those of others) to adapt the material for another occasion, different performers, and a new purpose. We have done just that. Our soloist is Nagisa Sakaki.
Bach’s Double Concerto, written for the orchestra he conducted as Konzertmeister in Weimar, is likely the most familiar work on our programme. It needs no introduction; it is gorgeous, and it is played everywhere. (Our kindly conductor last performed it in Kiev.) Our soloists are Keiko Kawamata and Mika Hasegawa.
Bach’s final didactic work, The Art of the Fugue, was left incomplete at the point where he lay down his pen at his death. He was then dictating the final multiple-voiced fugue which was to be his concluding statement on the science and art of musical composition. Bach delighted in contriving more than one musical melody sounding at the same time, playing off one another to imply a cohesive sense of underlying harmony. In the hands of a student, this is called counterpoint (eg, note against note). In the hands of a great master, it becomes a magically impelling kind of music. In tribute to our first platinum sponsor, the Tokyo British Clinic, we will perform Bach’s great Fugue on 3 Subjects just as Bach left it, incomplete.
Bach’s Triple Concerto in A Minor elevates the cembalo from ubiquitous accompaniment to a virtuosic role for the principal soloist. The cembalo (harpsichord) is joined by two further soloists (violins) and accompanied by the orchestra. This work too was written while Bach was conducting Leipzig’s Collegium Musicum. In contrast to the one-movement Sinfonia, this concerto seems relatively intimate and reflective. Our soloists are Tomoko Joho, Natsuko Haga, and Sayaka Teramoto.
Among Bach’s many preludes and fugues for organ, the most substantial, lengthy and profound is the Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, often referred to as “On Saint-Anne” for its apparent reference to the congregational hymn of this title. This great work has always had an almost hypnotic attraction for other composers. Arnold Schoenberg made an arrangement of the work for an enormous symphony orchestra. Our kindly conductor, then innocent of Schoenberg’s setting, made a subsequent arrangement of the same work for a more modestly sized orchestra and has conducted it in this form in Europe, Asia, and America. We now offer it to you in our own special Tokyo Sinfonia version.
BACH SERENADE
Mar. 13, Wednesday, from 19:00
Oji Hall (Ginza)
Tickets: Group ï¿¥5,500 each; Single ï¿¥6,000
4-concert subscriptions are also available anytime providing discounted tickets, reserved seating and VIP perks
All-Bach programme:
Sinfonia for Violin & Strings in D Major, BWV 1045 – Soloist: Nagisa Sakaki
Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings & Cembalo in D Minor, BWV 1044 – Soloists: Keiko Kawamata, Mika Hasegawa
Fugue on 3 Subjects from The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080
Concerto for Cembalo, 2 Violins & Strings in A Minor, BWV 1043 – Soloists: Sayaka Teramoto, Tomoko Joho, Natsuko Haga
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major (“On Sainte-Anne”), BWV 552
Post-concert champagne with the artists in the lobby
The Tokyo Sinfonia’s Bach Serenade will be another special voyage of discovery. That’s what we do in our champagne concerts: we mine the hidden gems of the composer’s genius. All that, and champagne too. Do join us.
See you at the Sinfonia!
SPONSORS
Gold Sponsor – Apagard
Gold Sponsor – GPlus Media
Gold Sponsor – Philippine Airlines
Gold Sponsor – Tokyo Club
Logo Design by – Beacon Communications
French double manual harpsichord by Michael Johnson (copy of a 1769 Pascal Taskin) courtesy of theTokyo British Clinic
RECENTLY
Actually, the Tokyo Sinfonia performed two events last week, and we are grateful to our sponsors and our audiences for the success of two very different programmes.
We performed first a special event for the largest audience we have yet seen at the dinner tables — well over 500 guests in the Concord Ballroom of the Keio Plaza Hotel. In consideration for the size and proportions of the venue, we played on a diamond wedge shaped stage positioned in the centre of the ballroom, and faced the Sinfonia in different directions for each portion of the programme. (Sinfonia members are now quite used to that.) Our musical programme was designed to draw a general audience — the beauticians industry — progressively closer to us. Starting with Tradition, we gave them Haru no Umi; for Classic, a vibrant movement from a Mendelssohn symphony; for Inspiration, Saint-Saens dazzling Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. We concluded with Innovation, the music for which we’ll leave it to you to guess. Our appearances were interspersed between five courses of cuisine created by the Keio Plaza’s French chef.
The sponsoring F’s Group was clearly taken with our choice of music and dramatic sense of theatre. We do love standing ovations.
Three days later we performed on the familiar stage of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan for our 29th regular dinner-concert series event, a Hungarian Serenade. Performed in the presence of the newly appointed Ambassador of Hungary, Dr. Istvan Szerdahelyi, who graciously greeted the audience the Hungarian cuisine was different, yes, and delicious. Just as the climate and terrain of Hungary are rugged, so is the food on the substantial side to fortify the Hungarian people. As one would expect, the music of Hungary too is robust and energetic, exuberant, and hauntingly melodic. It is exciting — perhaps even overwhelming — to listen to. It is also a challenge to play.
A comment from one of our regulars praised our brilliant arrangements, fabulous sense of mystery, and great spirit of discovery and adventure. We do love observations like that.
COMING
Tokyo Sinfonia in May
GERMAN SERENADE dinner-concert – May 15 (Fri.)
Eroica Variations (Beethoven)
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Violoncello & Strings (Johann Christian Bach) – Soloists: Kae Sugihara & Yumiko Iwao
The Fair Melusina (Mendelssohn)
Tickets/Information: E(mail): tickets@tokyosinfonia.com or Call (03) 3588 0738
Website http://www.tokyosinfonia.com
… the orchestra of 19!
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A PARTING THOUGHT: . . . SHARE THE EVENING!
Music is wonderful. You can sit there all by yourself while the music swirls about you and become lost in the wondrous world of your own thoughts and feelings. It becomes doubly more personal though when you can share the experience with someone close to you. Order a pair of tickets — or a table — and invite someone to come along with you. You’ll be glad you did. Music should be shared.
SINFONIA SPONSORS
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of our corporate sponsors who play a vital part in keeping our ticket prices low and the orchestra playing and growing.
Gold Sponsor – Apagard
Gold Sponsor – Beacon Communications
Gold Sponsor – GPlus Media
Gold Sponsor – Philippine Airlines - See more at: http://www.pricerubin.com/classical/index.php?summarynumber=613#sthash.VR6QDD6o.dpuf