A history of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, 1973-2005
The Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra began in 1973 as the Miyagi Philharmonic Orchestra, an amateur-based community orchestra in the city of Sendai, at that time Japan’s twelfth largest city. Nearly forty years since its founding, the orchestra has become one of Japan’s premier professional orchestras, boasting an extensive subscription concert season in Sendai, domestic and international tours, outreach activity, a discography of almost twenty recordings, and an impressive roster of conductors and soloists with whom the orchestra has performed. This study deals with the orchestra’s many levels of development and the various growing pains it has experienced on the way to achieving professional status. Of particular concern are the financial struggles the orchestra faced during the difficult economic situation in Japan in the 1990s and the steady improvement in both the quality and quantity of the orchestra’s musical and operational activities. Resources for the study have included numerous newspaper and journal articles, personal interviews, written correspondence between the author and conductors, concertmasters, orchestra members, and administrative personnel, and the orchestra’s archives in Sendai.
Japan, Orchestra, History, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign