Kawasaki City – Resident Orchestra
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra signed a residency agreement with the City of Kawasaki in 2002 and uses the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall, which opened in July 2004, as its home from rehearsal to concert.
At the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall, the Orchestra gives special concerts such as the Kawasaki Subscription Concerts (five times a year), The Masterpieces Classics Series (ten times a year) and Silvester Concert, and is the host orchestra for Festa Summer MUZA, a music festival that brings together nine orchestras from the Tokyo area every summer.
With around 30 performances a year and 90 rehearsal days a year, the Orchestra spends a third of the year at MUZA KAWASAKI, rehearsing in one of the world’s finest acoustic spaces, allowing the ensemble to refine its sound day by day and to deliver a sound that is intimately familiar with the hall’s characteristics. The Orchestra also collaborates with MUZA KAWASAKI in the production of special concerts, such as the Masterpieces Classics Series that have been running since the building’s opening, and the opera projects, as well as performances for young people and families, and special events such as the Silvester Concert.
Orchestra Concert at MUZA Kawasaki.
- – Kawasaki Subscription Concerts (5 per year)
- – Kids Projest : Orchestra for 0 years old
- – Kawasaki Symphony Pops Concerts
- – MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall & Tokyo Symphony Orchestra “The Masterpieces Classics Series” (10 times a year)
- – Mozart Matinee (organised by MUZA KAWASAKI)
- – Festa Summer MUZA KAWASAKI (organised by MUZA KAWASAKI)
- – Special Concert (Opera Project) (organised by MUZA KAWASAKI)
- – Enjoy Film Music with Orchestra (organised by MUZA KAWASAKI)
- – “MUZA Day” Concerts (organised by MUZA KAWASAKI)
- – Silvester Concert (organised by MUZA KAWASAKI)
- – Children’s Music Activity Promotion Project “Orchestra Appreciation Project” (Kawasaki City Board of Education)
- – Various music appreciation classes
Community programme at MUZA Kawasaki.
The programme includes a variety of programmes that only MUZA and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra can offer, such as mini-concerts that can be enjoyed casually, experience programmes that explore new aspects of music, and workshops for primary and junior high school students in the city, focusing on chamber music performed by members of TSO.
- – MUZA Lunchtime Concert
- – TSO Mini Concert in Galleria
- – Junior Producer Project
- – Music Salon – MUZA Music College
- – Participation in music workshops
Community programmes in Kawasaki City.
As a symbol not only of the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall where it is based, but also of the “City of Music Kawasaki” promoted by Kawasaki City, the group holds music appreciation classes for elementary school children in Kawasaki City, performs at events in Kawasaki City, including the launch of the new professional football team Kawasaki Frontale, and travels to ward offices in Kawasaki City, giving concerts at ward offices, welfare facilities, schools, office buildings and shopping malls.
- – City Touring Concert (Kawasaki City)
- – Kawasaki Ward Viola Concert
- – Nakahara Ward Office Concert (-2019)
- – Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum Planetarium Concert
- – Kawasaki Bridge Orchestra – IroIro-Neiro JAM (including music workshop & live performance)
- – and more.
History
2002
November
- – Residency agreement signed with the City of Kawasaki.
2004
April〜
- – Start of the complete works of The Masterpieces Classics Series jointly organised by the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall & Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
July
- – MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall opens.
- – The TSO’s secretarial functions, instrument storage, waiting rooms, etc. are concentrated in Muza Kawasaki, which serves as its home base for rehearsals and concerts.
- – Concert commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of Kawasaki City.
Akiyama Kazuyoshi, conductor: Mahler Symphony No. 8 ‘Symphony of a Thousand’.
December
- – Kawasaki Silvester Concert starts.
2005
July
- – 1st “Festa Summer Musica KAWASAKI”. TSO is the host orchestra.
2009
April~
- – The Hall Advisor project ‘Enjoy Film Music with Orchestra’ has started.
July
- – The premiere of ‘Fanfare in the City of Music’ commissioned to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the opening of MUZA, adds a festive touch to Festa Summer MUZA.
2010
- – ‘Mozart Matinee’ series began, organised by the then musical director Hubert Soudant.
2011
March
- – The hall was closed (-Mar 2013) after the Great East Japan Earthquake caused ceiling panels etc. to fall.
- – Concerts scheduled at MUZA Kawasaki were held at alternative venues in and outside the city.
2013
April
- – Reopening of MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall.
July
- – Start of the ‘Welcome Concert’ on MUZA Day.
2014
December
- – 10th anniversary of the hall’s opening Mahler’s ‘Symphony of a Thousand’.
2019
November
- – 15th anniversary concert of Gurre-Lieder at MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall.
2020
March
- – Due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the “The Masterpieces Classics Series” and “Mozart Matinee” performances were made available for live broadcast to non-participants.
June
- – Kawasaki City Matching Gift Concert. Attention was drawn to a new and unique initiative in which the city subsidises invitations to the same value as the donation, while at the same time holding the concert without an audience.
2024
July
- – Formed a joint orchestra of over 100 musicians with Senzoku University and Showa University of Music for the 100th anniversary of Kawasaki City, and performed with a choir of 350 city residents.