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The PMF 2024 Orchestra Academy consisted of 85 young musicians from 25 countries/regions, selected from among 1,123 auditions. A sense of the “PMF cycle” was apparent, with alumni currently active on the world stage making their triumphant returns to PMF, including 2 who returned as conductors.
Elias Grandy, PMF alumnus and Chief Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra from 2025, served as PMF Guest Conductor in the first half of the festival, giving passionate performances of Stravinsky’s Firebird suite and much more. In the second half, Principal Conductor Manfred Honeck brought out the full potential of the Academy in Mahler’s grand-scale Symphony No. 5, to great praise. Soloists Clara-Jumi Kang (violin) and Till Fellner (piano) captivated audiences with their outstanding technique and beautiful tone. PMF alumnus Wilson Ng conducted the PMF Host City Orchestra Concert, featuring the Sapporo Symphony orchestra joined by PMF faculty and Academy members, to much acclaim. Noteworthy among the many music outreach programs was the first workshop-format PMF Classical LAB♪, aimed at making classical music more accessible and fun for a broader audience, with participants ranging from pre-school children to adults.
Altogether, 39 concerts were held in Sapporo, Hakodate, Tomakomai, Ebetsu, Obihiro, Naie, and Tokyo, for a total of 21,273 listeners.

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• Schedule
• Artists
• Academy Members
• Photo Gallery

Printed Materials (*Japanese only)

Concert Schedule

Official Report, E-Book

Seventy-four young musicians were selected from among 1,090 applicants from 22 countries and regions, to participate as the Orchestra Academy. Krzysztof Urbański made his return after 12 years to conduct Program A in the first half of the festival, featuring Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. In the latter half, Program B garnered significant attention for featuring Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 with completed 4th movement, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard.

The festival began with the PMF 2023 Opening Night (July 12) at Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara, and ran for 21 days through August 1, with a total of 27 concerts in Sapporo, Tomakomai, Ebetsu, Naie, Hakodate, and Tokyo. In light of Japan’s category downgrade of Covid-19 and the easing of various pandemic-related restrictions, outreach concerts were presented once again in venues outside of concert halls, such as JR Sapporo Station. Average concert attendance increased by 30% compared to 2022.

PMF alumni appearances brought an extra layer of depth to the festival, with highly acclaimed “homecoming” performances by the all-alumni Pacific Quintet (woodwind quintet) and alumni-centric ARK BRASS (brass ensemble), and former PMF Assistant Conductor Kentaro Kawase led the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra (as their current Principal Conductor) in the PMF Host City Concert which featured PMF alumnus Denis Bouriakov (flute, PMF AMERICA) as soloist.

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• Schedule
• Artists
• Academy Members
• Photo Gallery

Printed Materials (*Japanese only)

Official Poster

Official Report

For the first time in 3 years, the PMF Orchestra consisted of international artists and Academy members. The 52 Academy members from 20 countries and regions were selected from among 973 applicants. Principal Conductor Lahav Shani and Guest Conductor Ken-David Masur led the Academy along with faculty members of PMF EUROPE and PMF AMERICA. A group of PMF alumni currently serving in various major orchestras in Japan performed with the orchestra and led the Academy as “PMF Section Leaders.” Soloists included Mayumi Kanagawa (violin), Michiaki Ueno (cello), and Tomoki Kitamura (piano) for Program A, and Makoto Ozone (piano) for Program B. Pandemic-related restrictions were reduced, allowing the PMF Link-up Concert, Picnic Concert, PMF GALA Concert, and PMF Orchestra Tokyo Concert to be resumed, along with many Academy chamber concerts, all to great acclaim.

A total of 25 concerts/events were presented in Sapporo, Tomakomai, Ebetsu, Hakodate, Naie, and Tokyo (22 during the 18-day festival period from July 16 to August 2, and 3 just prior to the festival opening).

• Highlights
• Schedule
• Artists
• Academy Members
• Photo Gallery
• Digital Contents

Printed Materials (*Japanese only)

Concert Schedule

PMF2022 Guide Book

Official Report

The PMF 2021 Academy consisted of 58 of the young musicians who had passed auditions for PMF 2020 before its cancellation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hailing from 16 countries and regions. As international travel to Japan was still restricted in 2021, the 25 Academy members who were based in Japan (the “Orchestra Academy”) came together with Japan-based PMF alumni, orchestral players, and university music students (the latter in the 2nd half only) to form the PMF Orchestra JAPAN. Program A featured works by American composers conducted by Keitaro Harada and was enthusiastically received. Academy members outside Japan (the “Online Academy”) received lessons from PMF faculty in Europe and the US, and their lesson videos were released online. Other new initiatives included the “PMF Classical Lab♪,” which explored the inner workings of the orchestra and the joy of classical music, performance videos produced by PMF faculty ensembles in their respective locations and released as paid online content, a paid livestream of the Opening Concert at Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara, and more. Originally, 29 concerts were planned in Sapporo, Tomakomai, Hakodate, and Naie, including 25 during the 10-day festival period (July 23-August 1), and 4 just prior to the Opening, but due to Covid-19 infections the 2nd half of the festival was canceled. Ultimately, 16 concerts were held.

• Highlights
• Concert Schedule
• Artists
• Academy Members
• Photo Gallery
• Digital Contents

Printed Materials (*Japanese only)

Concert Schedule

Official Poster

Official Report

PMF 2020 was scheduled to include nearly 40 concerts, including a full production of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni - the grand culmination of 6 years since the appointment of Valery Gergiev as PMF Artistic Director - but due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the festival had to be cancelled (April 3) for the first time since its founding, and it was subsequently decided that the 72 Academy members from 22 countries and regions, selected from among 1,212 applicants, would be invited to PMF 2021.

With a strong desire to somehow provide courage and hope through the power of music in this time of hardship, the PMF Organizing Committee planned various alternative projects starting with "PMF Connects," a platform for sharing performance videos by PMF alumni and faculty along with messages of encouragement (April 20), and the all-online "PMF Connects ~2020 Summer Festival~" was held for 25 days between July 10 and August 3 (the originally scheduled festival period), offering a sense of PMF's unique content in a format accessible during the pandemic, garnering nearly 250,000 views from 87 countries and regions as of the end 2020.

Then in early Autumn, with infection rates in Japan dropping, live concerts were resumed (September 5) with strict preventive measures to ensure that audiences could safely enjoy performances in the "PMF Connects LIVE!" series, at various venues within Sapporo - 13 of the 16 originally planned concerts were successfully presented (as of March 2021).

On the management side, an evaluation committee consisting of independent experts reviewed PMF's achievements and compiled their proposals on the festival's future direction into the "PMF Vision Report 2020" (October 5).

• Highlights
• Concert Schedule
• Artists
• PMF Connects
• PMF Connects ~2020 Summer Festival~
• PMF Connects LIVE!

Printed Materials (*Japanese only)

Concert Schedule (front)

Concert Schedule (back)