Orchestral

“I’m not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.” — Leonard Bernstein

Orchestras are instrumental ensembles that typically contain sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments, and which usually play classical or chamber music. The modern orchestra started to take shape around the middle of the 17th century, and grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Gradually, composers began to write music with parts for specific instruments and to be more adventurous about combining instruments to get different sounds and tonal colors. A smaller- sized orchestra of around 50 players or fewer is called a chamber orchestra, while a full-size orchestra of about 80 to 100 players is often called a symphony or philharmonic orchestra.

Min-On has hosted a great number of classical music performances, dating back to its inaugural concert at the Bunkyo Kokaido in Tokyo on October 18, 1963, which featured a chorus, a musical ensemble and performances by a leading violinist and cellist.

There have also been several regular concert series: the Min-On Subscription Concert Series dates back to the early days of the Association, with a series of exchanges from 1966 with
Jeunessses Musicales de France (JMF), beginning with a memorable piano recital by Cécil Ousset. In 1969, the Orchestral Series was inaugurated with a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.

In the 1980s, the Chamber Music Series was initiated with a performance by Canadian Brass, followed by the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Kronos Quartet, and other leading names. The Min-On Subscription Concert series has proven particularly popular with Japanese audiences, and continues to this day.

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