Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) has become the Official Education Sponsor of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2019 Tour of Japan in Kyoto (November 3) and Tokyo (November 4,5,7). This initiative took shape as TUJ’s Main Campus is based in Philadelphia, as TUJ will hold a series of celebratory events to commemorate its move to the new campus on the ground of Showa Women’s University (SWU) in Sangen-jaya. As one of the highlights during this TUJ’s opening celebration, a string quartet from the Orchestra will perform at the ceremony on November 6 at SWU Hitomi Memorial Hall, where an honorary degree of Temple University will be conferred on SWU Chancellor Mariko Bando.
Concert information in Japan: http://www.kajimotomusic.com/jp/project/k=200/
Kyoto: Nov. 3 at Kyoto Concert Hall
Tokyo: Nov. 4 at Suntory Hall
Tokyo: Nov. 5 at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Concert Hall
Tokyo: Nov. 7 at NHK Hall
The String Quartet Performance at TUJ Opening Celebration
The following instrumentalists will be performing on the November 6 afternoon at Hitomi Hall:
- Elina Kalendarova, Violin･ William Polk, Violin ･ Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal Viola
Kathryn Picht Read, Cello
The Philadelphia Orchestra has a long-standing relationship with Temple University, and many of the Orchestra’s noted musicians work as part-time faculty and adjunct instructors at the Boyer College of Music and Dance, including three members of the string quartet for the event: Ms. Kalendarova, Ms. Picht Read, and Ms. Ryan.
About The Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is among the world’s preeminent symphony orchestras, renowned for its distinctive sound and legacy of innovation over its 119-year history.
Currently led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Orchestra is known for pushing the boundaries of convention in the classical music realm, having offered the American or world premieres of important works such as Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”), Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
Through concerts, tours, and other activities, the Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States, and has a long history of international touring since its founding in 1900. International highlights include:
1936: The first American orchestra to make a transcontinental tour of the United States
1949: The first American orchestra to cross the Atlantic after World War II
1955: The Orchestra first tours continental Europe
1958: The Orchestra first tours the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries
1966: The Orchestra first tours Central and South America
1967: The Orchestra first tours Asia
1973: The first American orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic of China
1999: The first American orchestra to visit Vietnam
The Philadelphia Orchestra also boasts a number of significant media firsts. It was the first symphony orchestra to make electrical recordings (1925); the first to make a commercially sponsored radio broadcast (1929 on NBC), and the first to appear on a television broadcast (1948 on CBS). The orchestra provided the soundtrack for Walt Disney’s landmark film, Fantasia, under the direction of Leopold Stokowski (1940), and was the first American orchestra to make a digital recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies on compact disc (1988), and the first major orchestra to stream a live concert on the internet (1997).