Intensive training and fun on the second day of summer camp.

In the afternoon of the second day, we moved from ensemble to individual pieces. The string section was personally instructed by Masayuki Miyagawa, the principal second violin of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, who joined us from yesterday, on detailed bow movements and the order of movements. We have recorded a video of the performance of the third movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 2.

Meanwhile, the wind and percussion section received instruction from conductor Toshio Yanagisawa.

Like the strings, we started with the third movement in the afternoon, so the trombones, tubas, and percussion were down,

This practice session will also be shown in the video.

The 5-hour practice was truly special practice, intensive training. Even Mr. Yanagisawa said, "We've practiced a lot today. Let's not practice again tonight."

As I was driving Professor Miyagawa, who had been teaching me for the past two days, to the nearest station, I timidly asked him about his experiences.

"Everyone has improved a lot. It's OK. The committee member, Sato Miyu, has practiced thoroughly beforehand, so with just a few corrections they can improve quickly. By the end of the afternoon string rehearsal, their sound had changed and their expressions had taken on new expression, not through talk of specific techniques or methods, but through analogies of feelings and scenes. I am thrilled by their wonderful reactions.
In fact, Brahms' Symphony No. 2 is one of my favorite pieces of all symphonies. There are solos for every string section, and the solo and accompaniment for the viola in particular change over and over. But if you keep practicing like this, you'll be fine.

Although we received encouraging words from Mr. Miyagawa, we would like to ask the members who participated in the summer training camp to share what they learned in their respective sections.

When I returned to the training camp,

Everyone at the restaurant

We were experiencing making "Oyaki", a local dish of Nagano Prefecture. We were taught by local mothers and used Nozawana, pumpkin, and red bean paste as fillings.

Then, we grill the oyaki we made.

In other words, we entered the traditional barbecue at the summer camp. As the person in charge of recording the event, I have been trying to improve my knowledge of how to take photos of the barbecue every year. For example, this photo shows a hot plate.

This image will only reach sausage lovers around the world.

We'll focus on the expressions of everyone enjoying a barbecue.

Mr. Yanagisawa, who is from Nagano Prefecture, focused on replenishing his meat intake, saying, "I ate too much oyaki and gohei mochi when I was little, so that's enough now."

The main griller tends to be fixed for each iron plate,

Sometimes, people get so absorbed in the work that it becomes hard to see in photos, but since Kano, the horn player and concertmaster, was the one grilling the iron plate, we asked him to look back.

The little tricks performed by the people in the video also give a good indication of the fulfillment of today's training.

When the sun went down and it became difficult to see what they were eating, they moved to another place.

This is also a typical summer training camp development.

Fireworks. When it comes to fireworks photography, it's not about taking beautiful pictures of the fireworks, but about capturing the "Wow!" of the excited people around them.

It's also important to note that the men sometimes bond over fireworks.

However, in the Tohoku Youth Orchestra's fireworks, the performances of people from Hamadori, Fukushima Prefecture, stand out, especially the eldest of the three Tomizawa brothers, who is dressed in a blue T-shirt and moves like a dedicated fireworks maker.

Even if it means getting burned, they're determined to entertain everyone!

It was a spark of dedication that made up for being late this morning.

Our fun time came to an end in the blink of an eye, and we all headed home holding hands, preparing for the next day as we walked down the dark road, where it was impossible to see ahead without using the flashlight function on our smartphones.