The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and Tokyo Wind Symphony at Tokyo Opera City delivered a truly wonderful concert!
Needless to say, the remote appearance of Yasuhiko Shiozawa from heaven in Alvamar Overture was incredibly moving and left a lasting impression.
However, there were many other remarkable aspects as well:
• Professional live performances of pieces like Carnival of Roses and Folklore for Band
• The ever-changing colours of sound as different conductors took the podium—eight in total, which is quite unusual
• Brilliantly colourful renditions of large-scale 20th-century transcriptions by Mark Hindsley and Guy Duker
• A large symphonic band that brought back memories of the Tokyo College of Music Symphonic Wind Ensemble
• The rarity of Japanese professional wind bands performing in anything other than a wind ensemble format (i.e., one player per part as written in the score)
• And the encore piece—Naohiro Iwai’s arrangement of My Way—which had such a distinctive “Shiozawa style”
Every element truly made this a special concert.
The performance with video projection also brought back memories of the Frederick Fennell Memorial Concert held at Suginami Kokaido about ten years ago, where a similar approach was used in the encore. It could be considered a legacy of TKWO’s principal conductors.
Even though I only knew Maestro Shiozawa as an audience member, I was deeply moved. I can only imagine how much more emotional this must have been for those who had a personal connection with him.
It was an unforgettable concert.
