18 young conductors selected to take part in 2018 Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting

For Immediate Press Release
October 11th, 2018, Tokyo

18 young conductors selected to take part in 2018 Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting

Eighteen conductors aged under 38 have been selected from around the globe to take part in the 18th Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting taking place in Tokyo from 8–14 October.

Four days of preliminary rounds where contestants conduct the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra will culminate in a grand final where finalists will conduct the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in a public concert at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall on 14^th October to a live audience as well as an illustrious panel of judges.

The 1^st prize winner will receive a JPY 2,000,000 prize and an opportunity to conduct Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in two gala concerts to a wider audience.

In addition to the top three prizes, a special award “Hideo Saito Award” bearing cash prize JPY 500,000 will be given to one finalist in memory of Hideo Saito (1902-1974), a father figure of Japanese conductors and the founding Chair of the jury of TIMCC. An Encouragement Award bearing cash prize JPY 150,000 will be conferred to a non-standing finalist.

Established in 1967, the triennial Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting (formerly known as Min-On Concours) has been Asia’s premier conducting competition and for long its only international conducting competition. It is founded and hosted by Min-On Concert Association, a charity that houses a music museum and supports over 800 performances a year through the work of its foundation. In 2014 it joined the World Federation of International Music Competitions. Some of its illustrious past winners are Tadaaki Otaka (1970) and Kazushi Ohno (1982).

This year the competition received 238 applications from 42 countries and region. The eighteen contestants made to the preliminary rounds come from Japan, USA, Belarus, Russia, Canada, China, Korea, the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong etc, including three women contestants from Japan.

The judging panel comprises conductors Werner Hink,Junichi Hirokami, violinists Dong-Suk Kang, Alexander Lazarev, Tadaaki Otaka, Peter Pastreich, Hubert Soudant and Ken Takaseki. Japanese veteran conductor Yuzo Toyama chairs the panel.

?Finalists?

No.62 Earl Lee / Canada

No.75 Nodoka Okisawa / Japan

No.93 Masaru Kumakura/ Japan

No.179 Kanade Yokoyama/ Japan

Winners will be announced at a press conference on 15^th October.

Live update of the competition is available from its website and its Facebook page.
www.conductingtokyo.org
www.facebook.com/ConductingCompetition

—ENDS—

Notes to Editors

Min-On Concert Association

Min-On literally means “the people’s music,” and it is Min-On's aim to return music to the people, offering everyone the opportunity to enjoy the world's finest performing arts, as well as promoting international cultural exchange and peace by introducing music and performing arts from every country around the world.

The Min-On Concert Association was founded in 1963 at the initiative of Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International. As a non-profit, independent, nondenominational organization, Min-On promotes the global exchange of musical culture with the aim of developing mutual understanding and respect among people of different races and nationalities.

In 1965, Min-On was registered as a legally incorporated foundation, and today it is possibly the largest private, non-profit performing arts promoter in the world, supported by more than a million sustaining members throughout Japan. Since the association's founding, thousands of musicians and performing artists from more than 100 countries have been welcomed onstage in more than 300 cities across Japan, while hundreds of Japanese artists have performed abroad, thus promoting international cultural exchange to unite people through shared emotion, and creating an ever-expanding circle of friendship among people around the world.

Today, Min-On sponsors some 800 performances each year, attracting a total audience of more than 1.2 million, and making available diverse music of high quality—from classical to popular, from traditional to modern—to as wide a range of music lovers as possible. Min-On also sponsors various musical programs, including free concerts in schools and the Tokyo International Music Competition, to encourage the emotional development of young people and foster the growth of new talent.

The Min-On Culture Center (Min-On’s National Headquarters) in the heart of Tokyo, also houses the Min-On Music Museum and Music Library.

For further inquiries

Department of Publicity and Media, Min-On Concert Association
TEL: 81 3-5362-3400 / FAX: 81 3-5362-3401