"An emergency interview between Kana Philharmonic and Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra!" Is there really no "insider"...? Well, there is! Two insiders reveal the inside story of orchestra PR

Even if you don't know anything about classical music or orchestras, it's still interesting! The lively tweets of Kana Philharmonic and Sendai Philharmonic

-Finally, we're introducing the person behind the character. I hear he posts some pretty unique tweets on Twitter and is very popular?

[Sendai Philharmonic] We are grateful, but to be honest, we are also surprised by the reaction. The most popular reaction so far was when we tweeted "Unprecedented!!!" in January 2017. We used a line from comedian Sunshine Ikezaki to introduce the Sendai Philharmonic (laughs)... and it was well received. It was retweeted over 1,000 times and was featured on several TV programs.

Also, about the "candy". You know what's called pineapple candy? It's a candy with a hole in the middle like a donut, but it doesn't make a sound when you blow into it like a Ramune flute. But I thought maybe a professional musician could make it make a sound. So, together with Kana Phil, we asked some of the orchestra members to try it, and some of them were successful. We tweeted a video of the experience, and it got a lot of attention.

[Kana Phil] At Kana Phil, we had a "concert with switched members." I couldn't help but enjoy it. It was a concert with Kawase Kentaro, the permanent conductor, and it happened during the encore after the main performance. Kawase, who had been conducting until then, suddenly stepped down from the podium, and concertmaster Ishida Yasunao began conducting instead. Then, the concertmaster was absent, and before I knew it, Sakiya Naoto, who was not scheduled to appear, quietly appeared (lol). It was a so-called prank plan, but neither the performers nor I were informed, so it was really funny. The audience enjoyed it very much, and the response to the video tweet was good. One of the great attractions of Twitter is that it can convey a live feeling like this.

See the situation here
Conductor: Kentaro Kawase
Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra
Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise" (encore)

- In a good way, you are working to disseminate information that is not limited to the image of a classical or public orchestra. Please tell us why you started using Twitter.

[Kana Phil] Actually, Kana Phil has always been a positive orchestra. Kana Phil has had a Twitter account since around 2010, but my predecessor was knowledgeable about SNS and has been using Ustream and Facebook for a while. However, my current stance is largely due to my interactions with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. As members of the same orchestra, we plan events while sharing various information as appropriate, such as how to spread the appeal of the orchestra and classical music. It is true that opinions may differ within the orchestra about the uniqueness of the content, but the important thing is to get as many people interested as possible. I feel that the current style is very useful.

[Sendai Philharmonic] The same goes for the Sendai Philharmonic. We've been using Twitter for a while, and I became responsible in 2014. My predecessor asked me if I'd like to try it, so I said, "Yes!" But even before I was asked to be in charge of Twitter, I was checking the tweets one by one, and I thought, "I'd like to share this kind of information." Specifically, we want to convey not only information about concerts, but also the charm of the orchestra itself. So many of our tweets are planned from the perspective of the production side.

In order to spread the appeal of our products to as many people as possible, we provide information that is more accessible and familiar to everyone.

-As someone in charge of Twitter, is there anything difficult about it?

[Kana Phil] Yes... it's about how to get people who have never been to a concert before or who are not familiar with classical music to be interested. In terms of age, they are young people in their teens and twenties, but that's the hard part. In order to make it easy for young people to accept, I sometimes have to think too much about the phrasing and the wording. Another thing is that I have to collect timely topics, so I can't let go of my smartphone at all times.

[Sendai Philharmonic] Also, the working environment is important.

[Kana Phil] Ah, that's true (laughs). All my colleagues know that I'm the person behind the scenes, so I don't really have to worry about it, but when I'm looking at my computer with my smartphone in one hand, I somehow feel guilty.

[Sendai Philharmonic] It doesn't bother me now because we sit in different seats, but in the past when I was checking Twitter at work and a colleague passed behind me, I hated it because they thought I was just having fun (laughs).

-As a PR technique, have you noticed any particular effect in attracting customers?

[Sendai Philharmonic] Yes, it is effective. However, the purpose of the tweets is not to attract audiences. To be precise, it is not "only". Certainly, the main theme is management, so attracting audiences is important. But that is not our main goal, and our ultimate goal is to "close the distance between many people and the Sendai Philharmonic". Even with the tweets, which are said to be unique, we were thinking about how to get people interested in the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra itself and each of its members without making them feel the barrier between classical music and orchestras. It can be anything, such as "They're doing something interesting". We want as many people as possible to know about our existence. And we think it would be even better if they became interested in classical music and orchestras from there.

A connected orchestra. The breath of new activities that go beyond the boundaries of the orchestra is now spreading across the country.

-I heard that the exchange between Kana Phil and the Sendai Philharmonic also started on Twitter.

[Kana Phil] That's right. That's also a big advantage. This is mainly true for orchestras in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but they are always competing with each other, and for better or worse, they have a strong sense of being rivals. They rarely try to actively interact with each other. But I met the Sendai Philharmonic through Twitter, and we are now able to interact like this. I think this is wonderful. We can share the issues that the orchestra needs to address, devise improvement measures, and even plan concerts that have never been done before. So Twitter is also a tool that has made me realize the importance of mutual exchange between orchestras. I also hope that orchestras across the country will connect with each other using us as an example. If that happens, I think it will contribute not only to individual management, but also to the classical music world as a whole.

-Finally, please tell us about your future plans.

[Sendai Philharmonic] There are two. The first is to convey how to enjoy the orchestra. For example, we propose it as a tourist event. It can be during a trip or during free time on a business trip. While enjoying the local specialties and spots, you can casually experience the performance of local orchestras. We would like to continue to make such proposals and create an environment.

The other thing is "connection," as Kana Phil mentioned earlier. There are not many opportunities for orchestras across the country to interact. In particular, we are on the front lines connecting the audience and the orchestra, but we are not familiar with information about other orchestras. So we felt that we needed a place where we could talk about various things frankly.

Actually, today is the day of the "Insider's Gathering". Kana Phil and the orchestra members gather to hold a roundtable discussion, and this is the fifth time we've held it, and 19 people from all over the country will be gathering. We're still in the information sharing stage, but I'd like to one day turn this meeting into a big event that brings together orchestras from all over the country.

[Kana Phil] Actually, there was a big turning point for Kana Phil. The "Blue Dal Fund" was started in 2011, and I personally think that the attitude of the orchestra members changed from that point on. It is the awareness that Kana Phil is only possible because of the support and encouragement of the audience. Therefore, we want to continue to be an orchestra that is familiar to everyone and deeply moving. To that end, we would like to continue to tweet in a way that can become a good bridge between the orchestra and people we have not yet met.

<Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra>
Official Twitter:
Tweets by kanagawaphil
Official website:
http://www.kanaphil.or.jp

<Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra>
Official Twitter:
Tweets by sendaiphil
Official website:
https://www.sendaiphil.jp