Touring Japan in March and April, Dmitrij Kitajenko, ICMA Lifetime Achievement Award 2015, will conduct nine concerts in different Japanese cities. The tour is scheduled to begin on March 26 by a concert with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall, one of the most renowned concert halls world-wide, which is financed by the Japanese beverage manufacturer Suntory. The building opened in 1986 and was then the first concert hall in Tokyo exclusively dedicated to music. The hall has 2000 seats. The concert is repeated the following day at the Muza Symphony Hall in Kawasaki where also 2000 spectators are expected. Tchaikovsky’s Polonaise from Eugen Onegin and his Violin Concerto as well as Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony are on the program of both concerts. 23 years old violinist Tatsuki Narita is the soloist. He was the winner of the silver medal at the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
From April 1 to 3, Dmitrij Kitajenko will conduct three concerts with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra which was created in 2005 by Yutaka Sado in Nishinomiya, at the same time when the Hyogo Performing Arts Center was inaugurated. The enormous hall with over 2000 seats is built inside completely from wood and has spectacular acoustics. Prokofiev’s Symphony No 1, the Classical Symphony, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony are here on the program.
On April 8 and 9, Maestro Kitajenko will conduct the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra which was created already in 1961. Inaugurated in 1997 in a beautiful park in Sapporo, the Concert Hall Kitara also allows up to 2000 listeners to attend concerts. According to Sir Simon Rattle, Kitara Hall is the best concert hall of the world. The program comprises Prokofiev’s First Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations for violoncello and orchestra op. 33 (with German cellist Jens-Peter Maintz) and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony.
