The annual Asia Orchestra Week, this year featuring Chinese, Vietnamese and South Korean orchestras, will take place in early October in Tokyo and Osaka — with low ticket prices as an added incentive.
Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, Ho Chi Minh City Symphony Orchestra and Busan Philharmonic Orchestra will perform from 7 p.m. on Oct. 2 and 3, and at 6 p.m. on Oct. 4, at Tokyo Opera City's Takemitsu Memorial Concert Hall, while the Busan orchestra will perform from 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 at Symphony Hall in Osaka.
Each orchestra will play a selection by a composer from its own country, a concerto featuring a young talented musician from that country and an additional orchestral piece of its choice.
Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Tang Qingshi, will present Tang's "A Song of Blessing and a Toast," Khachaturian's "Violin Concerto" and Dvorak's "Symphony No. 7."
Khachaturian's concerto will feature Chen Xi who, in 2002, at the age of 17, won second prize in the Tchaikovsky International Competition, sharing it with Japan's Tamaki Kawakubo in an unusual year when there was no first-prize winner. Chen graduated from China's Central Conservatory of Music in 2007.
Ho Chi Minh City Orchestra, conducted by Tran Vuong Thach, will perform Vo Dang-Tin's "Poeme Symphonique Memoire de la Revolution," Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto No. 2" and Brahms' "Symphony No. 2." Nguyen Bich Tra, who will be featured in the Rachmaninov piece, studied at the Moscow Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Alexander Anissimov, chief conductor of the National Symphonic Orchestra of Belarus, will play Kim Ok-Sung's "A Song of Good Harvest," Barber's "Violin Concerto" and Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 5." Dennis Kim, first concert master of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, will be featured in Barber's piece.
Tickets are ¥3,000, ¥2,000 and ¥1,000. For the Tokyo performances, call (03) 5353-9999 or 0570-02-9999 (P-code 297-144). For Osaka, call (06) 6241-8255, (03) 5379-3733 or 0570-02-9999 (P-code 298-012).
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Three-night package tickets are available for the Tokyo concerts, for ¥7,000 or ¥5,000. Call the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras at (03) 5610-7275.
