NEWS

Students from a music course hold community concert at a junior high school

The orchestra of the Music Course majors of the Music and Fine Arts in the Department of Arts and Sciences held a concert at Kawachinagano Municipal Nankadai Junior High School on November 19 (Saturday).
　The concert was held as part of an outreach program for the Kawachinagano City Foundation of Culture in collaboration with the Music Course of the Music and Fine Arts Major of Department of Arts and Sciences at OKU. On November 16 (Wednesday), with only three days before the performance, Professor Haruyuki Nakatsukasa, conductor Yannick Paget, and fourth-year music course students Yuka Yamamoto and Kimiko Maki gave a pre-concert class at the junior high school.
　On the day of the concert, the orchestra performed familiar favorites such as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. The orchestra members also talked about their instruments and gave the students a chance to try them. At the end of the event, the orchestra performed Shunichiro Genda’s “Four Seasons in my Hometown” alongside the junior high school choir.
　Impressions from the students who listened to the performance included: “This was my first time hearing an orchestra, and I wasn’t interested in music or instruments before, but now I want to learn more.” “The depth of sound was so much greater than music from my phone.” “I was so happy to get to play the violin and hear the sound. I might join the orchestra in high school.”
　Natsuki Hirai, a second-year student in the music course who performed with the orchestra, said: “I was happy that the students were interested in the orchestra and the instruments. I learned how to convey how fun and interesting music can be to the students. The students’ gasps of excitement when I played my solo made me glad I performed.” Fumina Ioka, a fourth-year student in the orchestra, said: “I truly feel that the students got interested in the orchestra after listening to it for the first time. It was a great experience to perform in such a welcoming environment.”