On Jan. 27, the world of music will celebrate the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In his honor, a yearlong calendar of events is taking place, centering on his birthplace, Salzburg in Austria.
"Mozart certainly poured out an inexhaustible stream of instrumental music. Amongst the many concerts of Mozart music worldwide this year, the one at the Tokyo Masonic Center is actually on his birthday," said music director and conductor Robert Ryker.
Ryker counts this year as the 50th anniversary of his own career. He and Mozart share an early initiation into music, and continuing, unswerving passion for it. In Ryker's case, he was engaged as principal tuba of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 17. The tuba had been his instrument since he was too little to handle a full-size one and, to his chagrin, had to make do with a scaled-down version.