Establishment of the Vienna Philharmonic & Suntory Music Aid Fund Earthquake Disaster Relief through Music

In April 2012, the Vienna Philharmonic (Chairman: Dr. Clemens Hellsberg, Austria) and Suntory Holdings (Chairman: Nobutada Saji, Minato Ward, Tokyo) will establish the Vienna Philharmonic & Suntory Music Aid Fund within the Suntory Foundation for Arts.

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Suntory Group has been conducting relief efforts for the rebuilding and rejuvenation of the affected areas. These include providing relief materials and donation packages.

The decision to establish this fund was in aim to continuously offer support activities to invigorate not only the affected areas but also all of Japan through music in this hour of need.
The Vienna Philharmonic pledged a donation of one million euros via Suntory Hall "in hopes of conveying our condolences to our dearest friends in Japan who have been victimized by the earthquake damage." Having built up a bond of trust as a partner with the Vienna Philharmonic through many years of Japan tours by the orchestra, the Suntory Group will be establishing a matching fund in order to indicate our support for the offer.

The Vienna Philharmonic & Suntory Music Aid Fund will carry out the following grant project and performance project.

(1) Grant Project: Award
Inviting grant applications for activities of music-related presenters/event organizers nationwide that meet the objectives of the Fund, we will select recipients of the Music Aid Award to whom grants will be presented. Upon requests by recipient groups, we will have members of the Vienna Philharmonic take part in their activities such as concerts and performance instruction. We would like to see this award contribute to greater health and happiness in the affected areas and Japan overall by invigorating Japan's music culture.

Active Term of the Fund: 2013 through 2022 (10 years): Applications for the award will be open and announcements of recipients made in 2012 through 2021. Activities carried out between January and December will be screened the year prior.
Details of Award:: Every year, two or three performance activities and/or music promotional activities of nationwide presenters/event organizers/arts institutions, principally involving classical music, will be selected as grant recipients.

Monetary amount: annual total of 10 million yen

Content:	(1) Grant awarded
	(2) Participation in activities by the Vienna Philharmonic members

(2) Project: The Vienna Philharmonic "Concert for Children"
Vienna Philharmonic members will visit the affected areas on multiple occasions and on a sustained basis to hold concerts for children and their families. We hope that their world-class musicianship will both provide emotional support for children in the affected areas and contribute to the musical education of the next generation.

Term of Activities:: 2012 through 2016 (5 years). Two or three performances per year will be scheduled.