There should be trumpets. On May 8 at 10 a.m., Music for Youth will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The program with the New Japan Philharmonic will repeat MFY's first concert in 1939, which was designed to help young people enjoy and appreciate classical music. In this program, Schubert's "March Militaire" is used to introduce through demonstrations the "musical families" that make up an orchestra. Organizer of the memorial concert is the founder of MFY, Eloise Cunningham.

Eloise, whose father was a missionary in Japan, grew up with music, and when it was time to attend school abroad, she elected to make music her career. I asked if there were cultural barriers to cross when she went to the United States after so many years here. She could recall only one -- washing dishes at the boarding house where she stayed. She had never had to do such chores when she lived in Japan.

She soon realized she could never be a concert performer (she plays piano and organ) because of her small hands, which can't span an octave, so she decided to teach. She returned to Japan and the American School, then located in Meguro. When she discovered students had little knowledge of classical music, she found her first contributor. With 1,000 yen, she hired a symphony orchestra -- it later became the NHK orchestra -- rented Hibiya Hall and gave the first educational concert for both foreign and Japanese youngsters from schools all over the city. At first, orchestra members hadn't wanted to play for children. After the concert, they became enthusiastic supporters of her work.

Eloise has always had good support from the foreign community, especially the embassies. When the present German ambassador, Frank Elbe, asked which other ambassadors from his country had provided assistance, she sent him a list with the name of every German ambassador since the first concert. The British Embassy has frequently made the No. 1 House, the ambassador's residence, available for MFY functions. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was president of the U.S., Eleanor Roosevelt came to Japan to do the narrator's role in "Peter and the Wolf."

Eloise returned to the U.S. during the war and worked with military intelligence. She resigned, however, when the first atom bomb was dropped; she felt her country should not be involved with such mass destruction. She did not blame the military; she felt many senior officers agreed with her view. She returned to Japan after the war, doing research for the Occupation forces. With Tokyo in ruins, she was determined to bring music to Japan's children. Discouraged at first, she went to the top general -- that's how you get things done, she says. Within days she had an orchestra and a hall. She also organized music-education radio programs that were broadcast to Japanese schools. After the Occupation, she restarted MFY and presented concerts with handicapped performers. She found time to write on music for foreign publications, and somewhere along the way launched "Forecasts," a publication that announced in advance scheduled performances of classical music, dance and drama, and gave information on halls and tickets. In those days, such information was scant and we all relied on "Forecasts." It finally disappeared after 24 years of community service.

Eloise's only remaining concern is who will keep MFY going. Not that she is leaving. How can she? Her house nestles in a private corner of the Nezu Museum garden. It was the first house built by Antonin Raymond, who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel project and stayed on to design Western houses that incorporated Japanese features. She says it is wonderful to grow old in Japan. Her ward office sends a woman to help with housework and shopping. She receives presents on her birthday. Last year, the mayor of Minato-ku came to call.

She speaks with enthusiasm of the future and her work. One tends to forget that this fall she will mark her 100th year. Thank you, Eloise, for your good works. (The concert is mainly for people 6 to 18 years old. Reserved seats for groups of 30 or more are 1,500 yen; unreserved seats, 1,000 yen. Adult tickets are double. Go, and take your young ones. You will be amply rewarded. For information, call (03) 3437-3422.)