The challenge to the world’s first performance of all compositions by a large-scale professional orchestra.

Embracing viewpoints of historical context and future of orchestral music, four composers who are different in styles and policies of creation have gathered to explore into their works based on the individual points of view, to present their creations, and to share this opportunity with all the members. This is why “Orchestra Project” organized the challenge.

“Orchestra Project”, the 32nd time this year (2017), has launched from concert halls a number of representative compositional works of Japan, and have earnestly accumulated to date major archives of orchestral scores and experiences of public performance in our country.

For the coming stage in 2017, four composers - Masahiro ISHIJIMA (1960-), Harue KUNIEDA (1958-), Masashi HIRAI (1957-) and Rieko SUZUKI - will present the world’s first performances of their new orchestral works on November 17, 2017 at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, led since 2014 by Jonathan NOTT, a world authority on contemporary music, conducted by Youichi SUGIYAMA, a composer/conductor who is one of the greatest practitioners of contemporary music in our country of our time.

Of these four works, Ishijima’s work and Hirai’s work are triple-woodwind orchestral works without a soloist, and Kunieda’s work and Suzuki’s work are concertos featuring Japanese musical instruments. Gathered under the slogan of concert -- “Kyosei”, the Sound of Life Travels beyond Time and Space -- , each and every composer seeks a way to propose a new paradigm in its own creative activity, observing Japan from inside and outside, based on its introspection and projection.

“Kyosei” is a word coined to represent a place or concept where miscellaneous lives, freed from being confined in specific topos or classification such as Japan, human being and so on, can resonate with each other. Considering practical problems we encounter on our planet today, including interracial and religious conflicts, infringement of human rights, expanding economic disparity, environmental problems such as climate change and energy utilization, destruction of nature and many endangered species, singularity (the day AI surpasses human intelligence) and cloning technology, we the composers have been asking ourselves and trying to find words to explain what we have done as composers, why we compose, and where we to go.

Orchestra is just like a mosaic of sounds. Hoping to deliver symphonic world created by each one of us to as many people as possible. Hoping to weave sounds and music that resonate with life across a variety of values. This is the hope we share.