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About The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo

The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, founded in 1956, is Japan’s foremost independent professional choir. Its members are all graduates from Japanese music conservatories and represent the highest level of choral music in Japan. As the basis for activities on a regular concert in Tokyo, the chorus holds about 200 concerts annually in Japan, performs with Japanese and visiting orchestras and is frequently engaged in recordings for movie, radio, television and original CDs. Besides these activities, The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo emphasizes the musical education of children, performs regularly at schools all over Japan and organizes music workshops for young people. The choir has also made several appearances overseas, beginning with a tour to the five ASEAN countries in 1979, followed by a tour to the United States with concerts in seven cities in 1987, and a tour to Europe due to an invitation by the IFCM (International Federation of Choral Music) in 1997. In June 2000 The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo toured four cities in Canada and on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. In 2006 gave six concerts in Latvia and Estonia. In 2010 gave five concerts in Finland, and so on. The chorus performs a wide range of pieces from different periods and genres, but the core of its work is the commission of new compositions by composers around the world. The number of works, that have been commissioned and premiered by The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo amounts to a number of 211 up to now. It has been realized the commission to various composers, especially in oversea such as Einojuhani Rautavaara, Raymond Murray Schafer, Chinary Ung, Jonas Tamulionis, and Perttu Haapanen so far. By performing these works constantly in their concerts, the choir has taken an important role in building up a fundamental repertoire of contemporary choral music. Among its activities, the commissioned work to Toru Takemitsu that title is “Wind Horse” is popular in all over the world as the international choral repertoire. The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo is proud of its musical director, Kazuki Yamada, who is the best known conductor in the young generation of Japan. Because he is not only the conductor in orchestra around the world, but also can conduct choral music in Japan. During the last decade the chorus has had successful concerts with European conductors: Paul Hillier in 1991 and 1992, John Alldis in 1994 and 1996, James Wood in 1995 and 1997 and Georg Christoph Biller, cantor of St. Thomas Leipzig, in 1999. At present the choir is regularly working with Nobuaki Tanaka (Conductor Laureate),Kazuki Yamada(Music directer), Yoshinao Kihara (Principal Conductor), Wolfdieter Maurer (Principal Guest Conductor), Chifuru Matsubara (Permanent Conductor), Kenji Otani (Permanent Conductor), Hiroyuki Mito (conductors in residence),Takaya Mitsunobu (Conductor), and Shigeru Yamada (Conductor).

<<Recent Report>>

In April of 2017, we played Requiem (Faure) at the Rostropovich International Music Festival in Moscow.
In September of 2017, we premiered Rochlan Skipworth new work “hymns in reverie” and gained popularity.(244th Subscription)