We made it! Somehow, we managed to get through 2025 and are heading into the New Year with hopes that may or may not be dashed by the many variables in our lives now. But at least for this musician, the year ended on several notes of optimism contained within the piece I led in Tokyo.
The month started off in a city that I had never heard of, much less conducted in. Takasaki is located in the Gunma Prefecture, about an hour’s train ride from Tokyo Station. The Gunma Symphony Orchestra was kind enough to ask me to be part of its eightieth anniversary celebrations.
They wanted an all-American program, which I am always pleased to propose. When I have no idea of an ensemble’s level, I do a bit of detective work to determine what music should go on the program. After researching the music they have presented over the past few seasons, I was confident that the orchestra would be up to pretty much any challenge they might face.
However, much of what I would consider standard repertoire is not really in the wheelhouse of most Asian ensembles. A conductor must think not only about making the best music possible but also about having adequate time to teach unfamiliar pieces. Knowing that we had the pianist Alexei Volodin playing the Rhapsody in Blue as the last work on the program helped, as this is a piece that the orchestra has performed several times.
I constructed the second half around the Gershwin, beginning with the Candide Overture and Barber’s Adagio for Strings. What to play on the first half? Cindy’s Circuits is always a good choice. It offers virtuoso moments but also includes a set of recurring patterns, which makes it easier to learn, provided that the percussion section is capable. I opted to pair it with the complete Appalachian Spring. Thanks to my own set of parts, we did not have to spend any time dealing with the time-consuming process of bowings. The orchestra learned the thirty-five-minute version very quickly, but I was not sure if they had absorbed the stylistic subtleties that Copland demands.
At the concert, I was immediately taken by the musicians’ concentration and focus, right from the opening bars. As unusual as it may seem, this turned out to be one of the finest and most pleasurable performances of this score I have led. Its cautiously optimistic ending prompted some in the audience to shed a few tears.
I found this experience both memorable and gratifying. I wish them the very best for their next eighty years.
Following the engagement in Gunma, I had one last conducting assignment of the year, this time in Tokyo. But before that, Cindy and I had another week off and decided to head south to Okinawa. It was not quite winter, so the temperatures were mostly moderate. We took several day trips to the countryside, giving my wife another opportunity for some gorgeous photographic moments.
Here are a few:
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After lots of rest, it was time to head back to the big city for the final two weeks of the trip. And what a fortnight it was! I conducted five performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. If you think this is a lot, think again. Virtually the entire month is devoted to this magnum opus nationwide. Every professional, amateur, and student orchestra performs it each year.
Why?
The history is quite fascinating and begins with the internment of German soldiers in Japanese prisons during World War I. In 1918, prisoners of war in Japan’s Bando camp (Tokushima) formed orchestras and performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, introducing it to the locals. These concerts resulted in the Japanese learning about German culture through music and bonding with the prisoners.
The symphony conveyed a message of brotherhood, with the “Ode to Joy” having a profound effect on the Japanese as they recovered from the war. After the German POWs were repatriated, local Japanese musicians continued the tradition to commemorate the positive cultural exchange. The practice spread across the country, solidified by a post-WWII performance in 1946 in a devastated Tokyo, where it offered a powerful message of rebuilding and moving forward.
A huge annual concert called the Suntory Hall “10,000 Freude,” or Ichiman-nin Daiku, in Osaka involves thousands of amateurs and professionals, with choristers practicing for months to participate. This communal effort of musical mountain-climbing fosters a strong sense of social connection and shared accomplishment. All the choruses perform the work from memory, and at this point, there are probably several members of the orchestras who can do the same. Good thing I know this piece quite well.
What’s in a Name?
Breaking News! Board renames Kennedy Center and adds Trump!
We interrupt this discussion of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to bring you the latest from the cultural capital of the world. To no one’s surprise, the personally appointed leadership of the nation’s premiere presenting organization voted, supposedly unanimously, to attach the current president’s name to the institution.
There is a lot going on here. The first question concerns the legality of such a move. The National Cultural Center was the brainchild of Dwight Eisenhower and was expanded upon by President Kennedy. After JFK’s assassination, it was renamed—through an act of Congress—the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and designated as a national memorial.
Obviously, a memorial is just that: something that honors the memory of a person or event from the past. Such is not the case now. This will be something that Congress and the courts, as well as the grammarians, will have to decide. If the rebrand is allowed, does that imply that the memorial is also for the current president?
And will all those words, probably now gilded in gold leaf, fit into available space at the various entrances to the building? Construction crews were hastily making the changes less than twenty-four hours after the announcement. One can assume that the lettering was already in the works prior to the declaration.
The more important question concerns the new purpose of the arts center. Achieving a sustainable budget goal appears to be the only benchmark for judging artistic success: it is now only the sheer amount of money that matters, not even the number of people who attend the artistic performances, since we know that attendance at virtually all the theaters is woefully low.
Perhaps it doesn’t matter what it is called at this point. However, what does make a difference is the art that may or may not be presented. Let us hope that the creative spirit still lives on the Potomac. Otherwise, we will have to travel elsewhere to get the artistic boost that we need.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.
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The first of my five performances of Beethoven’s Ninth was broadcast to Japanese audiences through NHK media and is available to watch here. All five of the concerts sold out, which is not so easy to do in the massive 3,000-seat theater.
The audience included very knowledgeable music lovers as well as first-time concertgoers. Always respectful, they maintained silence throughout, with only the occasional cough. The performances were uniformly excellent, with terrific dynamic contrasts in the orchestra and some truly moving moments in the slow movement.
The choral finale saw the singers in great form, lusty and bold when required and subtle during the quieter passages. I felt energized during each performance.
Over the years, I have made slight alterations to the music, following in the footsteps of Weingartner, Mahler, Wagner, Toscanini, and others. These modifications are meant to clarify certain passages and take into account the modern instruments we use today, which, in the case of brasses and woodwinds, are quite different. The halls are much larger than those available during Beethoven’s time, as are the orchestral forces. As Sir Neville Marriner used to say, “If Beethoven had a modern toilet, he would have used it.”
From visiting new places to reconnecting with dear friends, this was a marvelous way to end 2025. After my last lengthy trip to Asia in January, I approached the pilot upon landing back in the States and asked if he could just close the door and turn the plane around. No such luck this time either.
Enjoy 2026, and I will see you next month. Stick around for some big news in the coming weeks.
Leonard