THE PHILHARMONIC CHORUS
OF TOKYO

Kazuki Yamada, musical director

The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, founded in 1956, is Japan’s foremost independent professional choir. Its members are all graduates of Japanese music conservatories and represent the highest level of choral singing in Japan. The choir performs regularly in Tokyo, giving around 200 concerts a year. It performs with Japanese and international guest orchestras. They record for film soundtracks, radio, television and their own label.

Besides these activities, The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo emphasizes the musical education of children, performs regularly at schools all over Japan and organizes music workshops for young people.

The choir has also made several appearances overseas, beginning with a tour to the five ASEAN countries in 1979, followed by a tour to the United States with concerts in seven cities in 1987, and a tour to Europe due to an invitation by the IFCM (International Federation of Choral Music) in 1997. In June 2000 The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo toured four cities in Canada and on their 50th anniversary. In 2006 gave six concerts in Latvia and Estonia. In 2010 gave five concerts in Finland, and so on. The chorus performs a wide range of pieces from different periods and genres, but the core of its work is the commission of new compositions by composers around the world. The number of works, that have been commissioned and premiered by The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo amounts to 211 up to now. It has been realized the commission to various composers, especially in oversea such as Einojuhani Rautavaara, Raymond Murray Schafer, Chinary Ung, Jonas Tamulionis, and Perttu Haapanen so far. By performing these works constantly in their concerts, the choir has taken an important role in building up a fundamental repertoire of contemporary choral music. Among its activities, the commissioned work to Toru Takemitsu that title is “Wind Horse” is popular in all over the world as the international choral repertoire.

The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo is proud of its musical director, Kazuki Yamada, who is one of the the best-known conductor in the world.

Other conductors of PTC include Nobuaki Tanaka (Conductor Laureate), Yoshinao Kihara (Chief conductor), Wolfdieter Maurer (Principal Guest Conductor), Chifuru Matsubara (Permanent Conductor), Kenji Otani (Permanent Conductor), Hiroyuki Mito as conductors in residence, and Shigeru Yamada (Conductor).