PMF 2022

Ken-David Masur makes his first appearance at PMF.
Son of conductor and humanist Kurt Masur, universally renowned for his words and deeds, Ken-David Masur was born in Leipzig. He currently serves as Principal Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. While conducting distinguished orchestras in Europe and the US, Masur is also actively involved in music education and working with the next generation of young artists, leading orchestras and masterclasses at top universities and conservatories around the globe. His choice of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 "Reformation" as the main piece for his performance with the PMF Orchestra is sure to prove a powerful one, with the guidance of PMF EUROPE faculty coming together with the youthful energy of the PMF Orchestra through his deeply refined conducting.

The program also features Beethoven’s majestic Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and 　piano, with three impressive young up-and-coming Japanese soloists: pianist Tomoki Kitamura, prizewinner of international competitions such as the Sydney, Leeds, and Beethoven Competition in Bonn, violinist Mayumi Kanagawa, prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky and Long-Thibaud Crespin competitions, and cellist Michiaki Ueno, who most recently won first prize at the Geneva International Music Competition in 2021 will come together to create a truly special event!

As always, the festival opens with Bernstein’s Candide overture!

In the festival’s second half, Lahav Shani will make his first appearance at PMF, as Principal Conductor. Born in Tel Aviv, Shani debuted with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra as conductor and solo pianist in 2016, and subsequently was appointed Chief Conductor of the orchestra in the same year. In 2020, he became Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, succeeding Zubin Mehta, who had held the position for 50 years. He made global headlines when he stepped in at the last minute to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert in place of Kiril Petrenko.

Shani’s program at PMF will center on Brahms’s pastoral Symphony No. 2, and will feature pianist Makoto Ozone in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Ozone, with his rare gift for leaping effortlessly between genres, has performed with Shani and European orchestras such as the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France; the synergy they will bring into collaboration with the PMF Orchestra is sure to be thrilling!

One of the most important missions of the international educational Pacific Music Festival is passing the joy and wonder of music on to future generations. PMF presents music outreach programs during the festival every year, with an eye toward festival-founder Leonard Bernstein, who championed music outreach so passionately. The PMF Classical Lab♪ presents a program exploring the Germanic tradition of classical music and its multifaceted charms, led by MC Arisa Iida and featuring piano duo “piaNA.” Since 2013, PMF has been presenting the PMF Link Up Concert, an adaptation of the Link Up program developed by the Weil Music Institute of New York’s Carnegie Hall. This program offers sixth-graders in Sapporo the invaluable opportunity to listen to music they have studied in advance performed live by the PMF Orchestra, and even to perform along with the orchestra.

PMF Guest Conductor Ken-David Masur conducts the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra (PMF Host City Orchestra), and Rainer Küchl, of Wiener Philharmoniker fame, serves as guest concertmaster for the PMF Host City Orchestra Concert, with both young conductor and veteran concertmaster serving in these roles with this orchestra for the first time – not to be missed!

The Picnic Concert is a distinctly PMF experience, offering a day of music outdoors in a relaxed summertime environment.
In addition to more formal performances in concert halls, outdoor concerts were also foundational to the festival from the very beginning. PMF has presented outdoor concerts every year since the first festival in 1990, offering music to a wide audience in casual settings.
In addition to enjoying the finest music in beautiful natural surroundings, food and drink are available in designated areas, and listeners can even explore the vast Sapporo Art Park.

In Part I of the concert, the “PMF Special Trio,” made up of young jazz musicians Yoko Suzuki, Shutaro Matsui, and Kurena Ishikawa (from a project produced by Makoto Ozone at Blue Note Tokyo) will perform “borderless music” with both classical and jazz themes, and PMF faculty member Daniel Matsukawa will conduct the HBC Junior Orchestra. This year, in addition to the outdoor concert, events will also take place in the Art Hall area, including the hands-on musical instrument project TOUCH & TRY, presented by Yamaha Music Japan, a main sponsor of PMF.

Performed at various venues in Sapporo and Greater Hokkaido, PMF chamber music concerts present a broad range of ensemble repertoire performed by Academy, faculty, and more. The repertoire includes well-known classical masterpieces for various mixed ensembles by Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, as well as pieces composed in the modern era, for strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Select concerts involve PMF Orchestra members (Academy and faculty) performing alongside local student wind ensembles, reflecting the festival’s mission to reach out to the younger generation of musicians.
Enjoy music up close in an intimate atmosphere - an experience entirely different from the orchestra!