Announcement on PMF 2021

After a year of focusing on online content and live chamber concerts in Sapporo, an outline of PMF 2021 has now been announced! In light of presumed pandemic-related restrictions and safety measures still being in place, the festival will feature live concerts performed by musicians from within Japan, in addition to new digital content.

PMF Orchestra JAPAN

For the first time in the festival’s history, PMF 2021 will feature the “PMF Orchestra JAPAN,” with players including members of last year’s Academy who currently reside in Japan, PMF alumni and principal players currently active in Japanese orchestras, and university music students, providing to young musicians the invaluable experience of playing alongside professionals. In addition to 2 orchestra programs, these musicians will perform chamber concerts in various locations in Sapporo and greater Hokkaido.

Program A will feature an all-American program led by Keitaro Harada, a PMF Conducting Academy alumnus whose growing international presence throughout North America, Asia, Mexico, and Europe has brought wide acclaim. Sensational young violinist Sunao Goko, who performed the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the PMF Orchestra and Marin Alsop in 2019, will serve as concertmaster, and Juilliard-trained multiple-award-winning pianist Yuko Mifune will perform Gershwin’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in F!
This program also includes Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess - A Symphonic Picture.” In 2019, the opera “Porgy and Bess” was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the first time in 30 years, to great acclaim, and the recording of that production recently won the 2021 Award for Best Opera Recording. This suite, arranged by Gershwin’s close collaborator Robert Russell Bennett, captures the essence of this fascinating and multifaceted work in orchestral form.

Program B will include Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and more led by Nodoka Okisawa, winner of the international conducting competition in Besançon in 2019 and rising star on the international stage. Internationally renowned soloist Fumiaki Miura, youngest winner of the Joseph Joachim Hannover International Violin Competition in 2009 and frequent guest of prestigious orchestras and music festivals around the world, will perform Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century.

This year, a significant portion of PMF’s educational curriculum will take place online. PMF faculty members from around the world will teach masterclasses remotely for members of the 2020 Academy who live outside Japan, and these sessions, which will conclude with performances, will be made available online.

Outreach programs will include in-person open masterclasses for Hokkaido-university music students, taught by members of the PMF Orchestra JAPAN, including alumni who are principal players of orchestras throughout Japan.

“PMF Connects” Report

PMF Connects LIVE! Report

Meanwhile, since September 2020, another important aspect of our ongoing work is presenting live music here in Sapporo, with rigorous safety measures in place, offering rare opportunities for Sapporo residents to experience PMF music in person.

The PMF Family Concert is a new project for families and children of all ages, with a colorful variety of ensembles, lively Spanish dance rhythms, and hands-on participation. Children had the opportunity to try their hand at conducting a portion of Bizet’s Carmen overture, and to perform along with the onstage musicians in Ravel’s Boléro using percussion instruments brought from home (homemade drums, tambourines, and more) in a grand tutti finale. This program offers the experience of shared music-making, which we have all greatly missed during our ongoing distanced era, and we hope to present it again in the future!

The PMF Connects LIVE! series is ongoing, most recently featuring an all-alumni string quartet with Takuya Kawamura, violin (PMF 2016, 17), Kanae Ohta, violin (PMF 2014, 15, 16), Yumie Ohta, viola (PMF 2014, 16, 17), and Kyoko Nakajima, cello (PMF 2003, 04) performing on March 27 with a mix of iconic string quartet repertoire and popular arrangements at the Creative Studio in Sapporo Cultural Arts Theater hitaru.

Support

Preparations for PMF 2021 are underway, with necessary Covid-19 preventative safety measures in place. We are striving to secure the funds needed in order to maintain the festival’s high standards, to continue contributing to the world community through music education, and thereby to world peace. We are deeply grateful for your continued support for PMF through our online donations.