May. 19, 2017

Children from Disaster-Hit Areas Perform with Vienna Philharmonic for Special Performance "Concert for Children" at Suntory Hall

As a part of the Vienna Philharmonic & Suntory Music Aid Fund, a special performance “Concert for Children” was held at Suntory Hall in October 2016. Children from areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima performed with the Vienna Philharmonic members.

“Concert for Children” is a special event in which members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has continued to visit disaster-affected areas and hold concerts for children and their families. This five-year project began in 2012 and has since provided about 6,300 people with the opportunity to enjoy music played by top-class musicians of the world.
Moreover, this is not just a concert, but also an effort to provide music education to develop music lovers and performers in the next generation. The special concert held at Suntory Hall marked the culmination of the project.

On the day of the concert, about 330 children performed with 17 members of the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Mr. Kazuki Yamada, a world-class Japanese conductor.
The children said they were happy to have the opportunity to perform with great musicians at Suntory Hall and would like the audience to see how they have grown in the last five years after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Sendai Junior Orchestra performs Mozart’s “Flute Concerto” and other compositions

Iwate Prefectural Miyako High School Brass Band
Club plays Johann Strauss Sr.’s “Radetzky March” and other compositions

Joint Orchestra and Choir of Junior and Senior High Schools in Koriyama City,
Fukushima Prefecture, perform Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony”

After a roaring applause from the audience of nearly 1,800 people, the concert came to an end with everyone in the hall singing the Japanese song Furusato (Hometown) as an encore. The activities of the Vienna Philharmonic and Suntory Music Aid Fund will continue until 2022.