New Symphonic Band 100th Anniversary Regular Concert

In the fall of 2025, the orchestra will perform R. Strauss's "Alpine Symphony" as the main piece to commemorate the 100th regular concert. All members of the orchestra look forward to seeing you!

<Introduction of the group> The Tokyo Laboron Orchestra was founded in 1961 as a performance circle of the Tokyo Laboron.
The group was formed in 1961 by wind instrumentalists from two orchestras that were part of the Tokyo Rouon performance circle. In 1986, the group held its 25th anniversary concert at Suntory Hall, which had just opened. The concert attracted attention as the first amateur group concert at Suntory Hall.
　Since its founding, the orchestra has been actively performing orchestral works, and has a particularly strong track record in performing symphonic works in all their movements and in their original tunings. In recent years, the orchestra performed S. Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 at its 55th anniversary concert in 2016 and G. Mahler's Symphony No. 1 at its 60th anniversary concert in 2021, both of which were well received.
In the performance of the orchestral works, in order to faithfully reproduce the original works, the players on the dais basically play the same wind instrument parts as in the original works, while the players on the floor work on reproducing the string parts of the original works, paying attention to the differences in nuances such as up-down bowing, arco and pizzicato. A major feature of this piece is that not only woodwinds but also brass instruments make up the string parts, and cornet and flugelhorn are utilized as string parts. This performance philosophy of the New Symphonic Band is said to have been inspired by the "Garde-Republiquaine Brass Band" of France, which visited Japan for the first time in 1961, the year of the band's founding.

Symphonic sound more than an orchestra
The band's catchphrase is not simply to reproduce the sound of an orchestra, but also to include instruments that did not exist at the time of composition. By using the modern "wind band" format, including instruments that did not exist at the time of composition, we may be able to express the music that the composer wanted to express in a deeper way. Believing in this possibility, we began with an effort to study and understand the composer's intentions, then shared the arrangement score created by Matsuda, our permanent conductor and full-time arranger, with all members, and carefully developed the score and performance while playing the music. This step is repeated many times, ultimately delivering the music intended by the composer to the audience in the best possible form. To pursue the moment when the heart communicates with the entire audience and their hearts are shaken. This is the policy that our troupe has always cherished.