Evergreen Wind Orchestra 6th Concert

The piece we will be featuring is by Yasuhide Ito. Mr. Ito was born in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and graduated from Hamamatsu Kita High School and from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a Bachelor of Music in Composition, and completed the graduate course in composition at the same university. He is currently a professor at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, Visiting Professor of Musician at Tokiwa College Junior College of Music, Visiting Professor at Shizuoka University, and part-time lecturer at Shobi Diploma Course and Toho Gakuen School of Music, respectively. He has won the Ataka Prize, a prize in the composition division of the Japan Music Competition, the Coudouin International Wind Band Composition Competition, the first prize in the piano division of the Shizuoka Prefecture Music Competition, and twice the Academy Award of the Japan Society for Wind, Percussion and Wind Music. He was awarded the Outstanding Performer Award at the Sogakudo Japanese Song Competition. He has conducted many wind bands, including Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, and has conducted in the U.S., Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Germany, and Italy, and has supported many singers as a pianist and accompanist, especially for vocal music. He has also been involved in a wide range of educational activities, including writing music textbooks for high schools.

　Among his many works, we have chosen the theme of "From North to South" for this program.
In the first half of the program, we will perform three pieces: "Lyrical Festival for Wind Band" based on a folk song from Aomori, "Hokkai Variations for Wind Band" based on the theme of the Soranbushi song from Hokkaido, and "Fantastic Variations for Euphonium and Wind Band" based on an Ainu folk song, the first revised version of which will be performed at this concert. Please also pay attention to the performance by euphonium player Mr. San Shoji, who will be the first guest soloist for this orchestra.
　The second half of the concert will then take a different course to the south. The program includes "Ryukyu Fantasy for Wind Band" based on the Okinawan folk song "Asatoya Yunta," "Suite for Original Symphony 'Taiwan Bouquet'" inspired by an old Taiwanese folk song, and the main piece, "Singapore Symphony," composed for the 2005 World Wind Music Convention.
　This program allows the audience to enjoy a wide variety of Mr. Ito's works, from pieces with familiar melodies to those with the essence of contemporary music. The performers are also discovering many different approaches to the same composer's works as they practice. We sincerely hope that a wide range of audiences will come to the concert.