Turning a crisis into an opportunity?! The story of the "insiders" as they passionately take on the coronavirus pandemic!

The "insiders" of orchestras break the stereotype of serious, uptight people and use Twitter to spread the appeal of orchestras. The "insider summit," which has become a regular event, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the "insiders" who are full of love for orchestras are not discouraged. In order to deepen their friendly relations, an online roundtable discussion was held.
We will report the whole story, on the condition that their faces are not shown!

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Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra (hereafter referred to as Kanagawa Philharmonic) It has been a truly turbulent year. From the end of February to mid-July 2020, almost all of the Kanagawa Philharmonic's concerts were canceled or postponed. In the midst of this, we were able to open up new channels, such as distributing performance videos and remote appearances by orchestra members on YouTube, so we take this as a positive thing.
* Click here for the Kanagawa Philharmonic's official YouTube channel!

Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra (hereafter referred to as Sendai Phil) During the six months when we were unable to perform any musical activities, it was tough to manage Twitter. We couldn't give up, so we decided to take advantage of the situation where we couldn't send out performance information and send out information that focused on conveying daily life. The main topics were very everyday scenes, such as what is happening in Sendai now and what the Sendai Phil is preparing. Since we were able to send out information without any interruption, I think we were able to communicate with our followers without any interruption.
* Click here for the official Sendai Philharmonic YouTube channel!

The Yamagata Symphony Orchestra held a regular concert without an audience in March last year. The live streaming of the concert received a great response, but activities were suspended after that. It was in June that they started live streaming again without an audience, and it was not until July that they were able to deliver live music to customers, albeit with a limited number of people.
But during that time, I was able to try something new, which was a great benefit. I planned and streamed "Hanagasa Ondo in a Place Like This" as a PR campaign for crowdfunding-type hometown tax donations. Many people watched it.

The Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra (hereafter referred to as Tokyo City Philharmonic) held a live broadcast without an audience on June 25 last year, and has since resumed performance activities little by little. In addition to performance activities, volunteers started a video project called "At-Home Ensemble" in which they worked with orchestra members to film and edit each section at home, and when it was released on the official YouTube channel, it received a lot of attention.
On the other hand, at the beginning, there were many changes to the songs and performers, so I felt bad that there were so many changes and refunds on Twitter. So I'm still careful not to tweet sad or depressing tweets. My followers also respond cheerfully, so I'm grateful for their feelings and they encourage me every day.

The Japan Century Symphony Orchestra (hereafter referred to as Japan Century) has had a very chaotic year. After the concert on February 22nd, the orchestra was able to continue activities until June 20th, but without an audience. However, when the regular performance in March was canceled, some of the orchestra members volunteered to do something since they had a schedule. Taking precautions, they recorded videos of the performances in the rehearsal room and were able to stream them one by one as the "Century Web Concert."
Thanks to that, we reached 10,000 followers on April 15th!

Everyone: 88888888!

In addition to Japan Century , the year was a year in which we took on many new challenges, including performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 outdoors in the middle of summer and asking for support through crowdfunding.

The advantage of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra Twitter account is that it can provide up-to-date information, but over the past year we've been busy posting program changes and ticket refunds, and I feel like we haven't been able to send out many positive messages. However, we're grateful that Tatsuya Shimono, the general music director, has been cooperative in our efforts and has agreed to send out video messages and cosplay photos.
* Click here for the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra's official YouTube channel!

[Looking back on the year of the COVID-19 pandemic]

Sendai Philharmonic The Sendai Philharmonic's most recent hit is "The End of Amore Sukegawa, Who Arrived Just Before the Performance Started."

As part of concert style during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra has made it known in advance that people should write their name and phone number on the back of their tickets. However, many people don't actually write it... So, together with Amore Sukegawa (double bassist: Sukegawa Ryu), we created a promotional video and posted it on Twitter.

Although it is not the result of Yamagata Symphony Orchestra Twitter, the "Bravo Towel" received a good response. We made it for customers who cannot shout "Bravo!" due to infection control measures, but it was unexpectedly well received. We are currently placing a fourth additional order.

I was happy to hear that when a certain long-established European orchestra came to Japan, some of the audience members held up this sign in their seats. By the way, there is also a "Bravo hand towel" with a flower hat motif, and both are "inside person" designs. I hope they spread it nationwide (laughs).

Last fall, the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra redesigned the wrapping on its transport trucks (Oketora), and we received a lot of positive feedback. Everyone said it looked cool, and many of the guests and performers who came to see the concert took photos of the Oketora and tweeted about them, which made us very happy.

Some people call it "fire truck color" (lol), but it certainly has an impact.

Recently, I tweeted a video I filmed at the rehearsal for the 339th regular concert, which was held at the end of January this year, and this also received a great response. After I posted it, I received a comment saying, "I'm even more excited to go to the concert now!" I was listening to the performance and tweeting it because I thought, "I definitely want everyone to hear this!!" so I was very happy.

On July 9th, after the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra resumed activities, we played our first sound as an orchestra. The nostalgia of the tuning A and the joy of finally being able to play music just melted into my body, so I tweeted about my feelings directly, and I guess my followers understood, because they all sympathized with me.

The tweet announcing that Joe Hisaishi will become Principal Guest Conductor from April 2021 at Japan Century Orchestra received a huge response.

This is where it got just as exciting.

We played Mahler's Symphony No. 5 with a large ensemble for the first time in a while, and for that purpose, the bassoonist made a handmade "low A" bassoon that looked just like the real thing. When we showed it off and took a photo with him, smiling with delight, we received a lot of positive comments. I think what people want is tweets that make the orchestra members feel closer to them.

The most popular recent tweet from the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra was a photo of Shimono-san and First Concertmaster Sakuma dressed as Italian chefs. I hope that tweets like this will attract the attention of a wide range of people, including those who have not had much connection with the orchestra until now.

What I want to do once the coronavirus pandemic is over

Let's hold a Sendai PhilReal "Insider Summit"! It's been about a year and a half since we last did this.

Yamagata Symphony Orchestra We have missed interacting with people, so first of all, we want to revive that. It is frustrating for us that we cannot provide services to our customers. Once the corona vortex is over, we will not only try to get back what we were unable to do, but also work hard to provide even greater joy than ever before!

Until now, the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra has held social gatherings with audiences twice a year after the regular concerts. As a token of our appreciation for our audience's support, we would like to resume these events. And of course, we would like to hold the "Insider Summit" as well!!

I want to hold the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra "Inside People Summit" soon. A wide variety of SNS have appeared in recent years, and I would like to think of new things by making full use of existing video content and remote work. In addition, we have not yet been able to resume "seeing off" customers after the performance due to the need to prevent infection. Since it is a very important "place" for orchestra members, I hope that we can resume it soon.

Of course, I want to hold the Japan Century "Insiders Summit," but I also want to revive the opportunity for members to visit rehearsals and see off the members after concerts, and there are many other things I want to do. More than anything, I want to say to the audience, "Come to our concert!" Even though we are spreading the joy of orchestras and music, it is a shame that we can't casually say "Come!"

The Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra recently had to cancel the Fan Appreciation Day that was scheduled for the day. We have received requests from our fans to resume the open rehearsals and post-performance farewell events as soon as possible. We know that there are many fans who are looking forward to these events, so we look forward to returning to an environment where everyone can enjoy themselves.

[What is the appeal of orchestras and music?]

There is no doubt that Nippon Century is made up of professionals of each instrument who are serious about music. That is why we can deliver fun, beautiful, and diverse tones and genres of music. Because we are so serious when we play, people tend to think that we are "stiff," but each of us has a charming side, so I would like people to know that as well.

As the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra was unable to perform for a long time, I realized that there is something passionate about music that cannot be expressed in words. It is music that has captivated many people over the years, so it would be a shame to dislike it without even listening to it!

Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra: The same time never comes twice. It is no exaggeration to say that the charm of live music lies there. Even if the same piece is played twice, the tempo will not be the same twice, and it is impossible for the performance to be the same twice. After all, about 60 people play various instruments. The charm of an orchestra lies in the fact that one thing is created by many people.
Also, the members of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra are more open-minded, friendly, and interesting than you might think, and they're very human. If you say "Thank you," they'll reply "Thank you." Really.

Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra: Strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion. All the instruments come together to create a single piece of music, creating a powerful impact that touches the hearts of the listeners. I think that is the charm of the orchestra.

The music of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra is used in movies, dramas, commercials, and more, so you may have had the experience of thinking, "Hey, I've heard this song before!" That's because it's so memorable, and it's something that's so familiar to us even if we don't realize it. Listening to such music live is something that you feel with your whole body, not just your ears. The raw sound, not through machines, is warm and touches your heart because it's played by a human being. I hope to be able to convey that sense of excitement and happiness.

Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestras are active in each region of the country, and they carry out activities that are rooted in their local communities. The Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra has launched various projects to give itself a unique style, but the "insiders" believe that they are merely a tool to help people get to know the orchestra and lead them to the wonderful world of music. Our goal is to increase the number of people who listen to the orchestra or have their hearts soothed by music through Twitter, where the "insiders" are working hard. The "insiders" will continue to work together to spread the charm of the orchestra!