This is a report on the second day of the pre-concert training camp.

After dinner on the second day of the camp on the 19th (Monday), the members held an orientation in which they would be performing at the lobby concert on the day of the performance and would look back on their activities this year. The photo shows the end of the event, when Director Ryuichi Sakamoto presented a letter of appreciation to Akane Hatakeyama (3rd year university student, Sendai City), who had served as captain for the second consecutive year.

On the second day, we started the morning by concentrating on Stravinsky's "The Firebird (1919 version)," a piece we had not been able to get much done on the previous day.

Director Sakamoto leans forward to check the piano part by composer Kosugi Sayo, who is playing the "piano in the orchestra."

It's not just the piano that gets you leaning forward.

He also shows interest in the kanji writing and math problems of junior and senior high school students during their break. In short, he is a director with a strong sense of curiosity.

During lunch break, we lined up in the hallway of the rehearsal room and ate Chinese bento boxes.

Since it was a rare one-hour break, the recorder, Abe Hidekatsu, a second-year university student from Fukushima, took a camera and took photos of each part.

Captain Hatakeyama is very sensitive to camera movements.

This is the horn part.

Just when I thought they'd taken the photos, they started practicing for the actual lobby concert.

Director Sakamoto listened intently and commented, "That's good."

This is a viola sextet rehearsal.

Ensemble practice circles for the lobby concert are forming here and there.

This is the first violin.

This part has the widest range of ages, from fourth graders in elementary school to first-year graduate students.

In the afternoon, we will start practice with "The Last Emperor."

The combination of conductor Toshio Yanagisawa and director Sakamoto provided careful instruction on every detail.

This is the microphone setup.

Yes, Sayuri Yoshinaga, who will be performing at the Sendai concert for the third consecutive year, came to the rehearsal. I was a little timid so I took a photo from a distance.

This year, two poems by Kenji Miyazawa, one each of Hiroshima and Okinawa, and a poem about Fukushima, which was inspired by the Great East Japan Earthquake, will be read aloud to the music of Director Sakamoto's work "Still Life." Each performer plays more than 20 chords freely, creating a unique floating piece of music, which starts with the viola and cello, then spreads to the violin.

Director Sakamoto's instructions were to "play with as little vibrato as possible," in order to express "Still Life."

He was supposed to be conducting from start to finish, but towards the end he suddenly started playing the piano.

How will the actual event unfold?

Even though he took time out of his busy schedule at the moment when his starring movie , Sakura Guardian in the North, is being shown, he even gave us some lavish gifts.

thank you very much.

Mari Watanabe, who, like Yoshinaga, will be hosting the event for the third consecutive year, also came to watch the event, bringing along some gifts.

These dorayaki are branded with the annual Tohoku Youth Orchestra's original stamp.

So far, no one other than Mari Watanabe has made a branding iron for the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.

We also took a commemorative photo with the members. Thank you very much. We look forward to the performances in Tokyo and Sendai.

After dinner, the group members had an orientation session planned by themselves. First, they performed a lobby concert.

Horn Octet "First Movement from Three Episodes/Toshio Mashima"

The nine performers were: Chiba Daiki, Sato Sakura, Kano Ryoya, Tachiya Ryutaro, Senda Natsuki, Tajima Shiori, Sone Mizuki, Isogai Hinako, and Akama Kanara.

Viola Sextet "GP Telemann/3rd Movement from Concerto No. 1 for 4 Violas"

The six are Ryo Muraoka, Mikiko Hattori, Nana Takahashi, Shoko Suzuki, Hikari Sato, and Miho Konno.

Next up is the trombone septet "Bosco Rosco / Tommy Pederson"

The seven members are Ryuyo Otani, Yuki Emi, Sakura Onami, Atsushi Tsutsui, Yukiho Hashimoto, Kazuhiro Shinkawa, and Yuta Tomizawa. Tomizawa, the tuba player, is hidden by his instrument but has a strong presence.

And this is also an annual event, the opening fanfare to announce the start of the concert by Toh Eijun, a high school freshman from Fukushima City. The year before last it was a trumpet duet, last year it was a trumpet trio, and this year it was an eight-piece brass ensemble. I was amazed at the leap of 2, 3, 5, 8, skipping a single Fibonacci number, and Toh (far right) explained it to me.

Apparently, after last year's concert, Tomizawa, the tuba player, said, "Next year, please use Kinpachi!", so he made it out of spite. It seems that the educational effect of the unreasonable request has been proven. When composing this year's piece, he said, "What is a fanfare? I quietly quoted the motif of 'The Firebird' without making it obvious."

In between ensemble performances, viola player Mikuko Hattori, who graduated from Fukushima University in March and has successfully secured employment at a railway company in Hokkaido from April, spoke about the establishment of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra Alumni Association.

As the first president of the TYO alumni group, I hope to see it grow into a large organization.

Of course, we are also looking forward to donations from the alumni association!

As we were talking, we heard that Narayama Kaho, a female scientist who had been with us until the second term, would be helping out with merchandise sales at the Tokyo performance as an alumni.

Although she became an alumna, she ended up repeating her third year of university... I couldn't help but take a photo.

Next, Yamazaki Yuko, a first-year high school student from Fukushima City, and Fukusumi Mao, a first-year junior high school student from Miyagi Prefecture, who are in charge of volunteer concerts, reported on the four volunteer concerts that have been held this year in Iwaki City, Ishinomaki City (twice), and Minamisanriku Town.

A total of more than 30 members of the group visited the areas that were hit hardest by the disaster, interacted with local people, listened to their experiences of the disaster, and also created an opportunity for them to perform their own music, which was met with great applause.

In addition, the volunteer concert was supported by a duo of second-year university students, Karin Hashimoto from Iwaki City and Sakura Onami, who is from Date City, Fukushima Prefecture.

They explained the results to us in a manner similar to a manzai comedy routine, and also in a way that was like a wall newspaper.

This is an output that conveys the heat of information that digital information does not have. Thank you so much for creating this during your busy training camp.

Then the ensemble performance continued.

◆Woodwind Quintet "1st and 4th Movements from Divertimento for Woodwind Quintet/Haydn"

The performers are: Fl. Momoka Kanno, Ob. Satoshi Sekine, Hr. Shiori Tajima, Fg. Yuri Nishimura, and Cl. Natsumi Kidoguchi.

Next is the Clarinet Quartet "Clarinet Polka" (Author unknown)

It was a quartet of Natsumi Kidoguchi, Haruka Yamanaka, Natsuki Kurosu, and Hiromasa Adachi. Kidoguchi-san on the far right was at her music college graduation ceremony today, and she came to see us after the ceremony. I hope she will work hard from April onwards, aiming to become a professional.

As you can see, the performance will begin immediately after the doors open at the concert. We hope you will arrive early to enjoy the entire performance by the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.

At the end of the orientation, Captain Hatakeyama handed out this year's certificate of appreciation.

First of all, I would like to thank Chiba Hazuki for taking on the important role of concert mistress, or "Conmiss."

Thanks to Tono Hidejun, also known as "Junjun," for composing the opening fanfare.

He is a humble composer.

A letter of appreciation to Yamazaki Yuko on behalf of the volunteer musicians.

Thanks to Mr. Hashimoto, who is in charge of crowdfunding.

The person quietly holding the camera in the background is Miyagawa Hiroshi, a member of the secretariat.

And I'd like to thank Chiba Daiki. Umm, what was I thanking him for? Above all, Chiba-kun fell in the bath at the training camp last night, hit his head hard, and was taken to the hospital by ambulance for a detailed examination. He set a record for two people being transported by ambulance in one day.

Please be careful of your step in the bathroom.

We would also like to thank Natsuki Senda, a first-year high school student from Fukushima, who is in charge of public relations.

The pose holding the letter of appreciation is perfect.

And, in recognition of his contributions such as creating the questionnaire, a letter of appreciation was sent to Atsushi Tsutsui.

Sorry, it's too far away to see. Thank you, Tsutsui-kun, for procuring the instruments from Tohoku University for the Sendai concert.

In addition, "Dandy" Abe Hidekatsu was instrumental in recording the camera and #memberreport.

It's great to see him with the camera hanging around his neck!

We would also like to thank Hinako Isogai, a second-year university student who was in charge of the camp and also moderated the orientation.

She responds promptly and is active as the third generation ladies' bath boss.

Finally, as a surprise, coach Ryuichi Sakamoto presented a letter of appreciation to Akane Hatakeyama for fulfilling the important role of captain for the second consecutive year.

He said he started job hunting this March. His achievements as captain of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra should be useful in his job hunting. I'm looking forward to finding a job.

Now in our third year, we have a strong sense of the growth of each individual and the organization. The adults around us hope that the members' independence will grow even more and that this will be sublimated into creativity.

On the second day of the camp, we ended the 10-hour practice day with pieces of Debussy and Stravinsky.

Tomorrow is the last day of the camp. That means the day after is the real thing. Don't forget what chiropractor Nakano Michihiro said yesterday about the most important thing: getting a good night's sleep. Make sure you get plenty of rest.