[Performed at the Keio Mita-Kai Convention]

The Tohoku Youth Orchestra performed at the Keio Rengo Mita Kai Tournament ( https://www.2021.rengomitakai.jp/ ) held on Sunday, October 17th.

The Keio Rengo Mita Kai is an alumni organization for Keio University alumni.
The Mita-Kai Conference, which is held every autumn at Hiyoshi Campus,
Due to the spread of COVID-19, the event was canceled in 2020 and will be broadcast live online in 2021.

The live broadcast will last three hours, connecting live feeds from various facilities on Keio University's Hiyoshi Campus.
TYO performed at Fujiwara Hall.

This time, the performance was performed by about 40 people, mainly high school and university students.
Those being transferred from Tohoku took the Shinkansen to Tokyo Station in the morning, then a bus to the Hiyoshi Campus.
The Kanto group arrived at the venue first and set up the stage.

The slogan for this year's tournament is "Together towards the future."
Especially in times like these, we need to broaden our bonds with our trusted friends,
It seems that this tournament is imbued with the idea of connecting the future to the future.

The theme of the main program of this Mita-kai was "Ten years since then, and the next ten years: Bonds for the future."
There was also an affinity with this theme, which is why TYO was asked to do the work.

And as a well-known Keio University alumni,
Sho Sakurai, Ayaka Hironaka (TV Asahi announcer), and Taro Hirotatsu (Nippon Television announcer) served as navigators on the main stage.

The TYO members were informed of this impressive line-up of navigators just before rehearsal on the day of the performance.
Of course, there was a lot of excitement.
(As a supervisor, I was worried about whether they would be able to concentrate on playing the music properly...)

This is a rehearsal scene.

Since it will be a live broadcast, we will carefully check the flow, including the MC.

The members were glued to the broadcast monitor.

Once the rehearsal is over, the performance is checked for final confirmation.

In this stage,
In advance, we collected submissions for "Keio University songs that alumni like."
There was a content where the top three songs were announced in ranking format and TYO performed them.

Like a TV show board, you can flip over the top three songs.

The conductor is Hirofumi Kurita.

Despite his busy schedule, he kindly accepted to take charge.

The orchestra members' performances are further refined thanks to Mr. Kurita's clear musical directions.

After the rehearsal, lunch and a change of clothes, it was time for the big day.

For the performance, she wore her usual black outfit and a TYO scarf.
For members who joined after the 5th term, the regular concert was canceled due to the influence of COVID-19,
For some people, this was their first stage performance as TYO.

The following songs were performed at the show:

♪The Last Emperor♪ Keio Hymn (3rd place in "Keio Songs Favorite by Alumni")
♪ Wakachi (2nd place in "Keio songs that alumni like")
Flowers Bloom! Keio Song (No. 1 in "Keio Songs Favorite by Alumni")

At first, he seemed a little nervous,
As the stage progressed, the members gradually got used to the performance and seemed to get back on track.

In between songs, there was also a scene of interaction between Sakurai Sho, announcer Hironaka Ayaka, announcer Hiroryu Taro, and Captain Tajima.
Captain Tajima said, "I was nervous to speak!!" (Don't worry, even adults get nervous here...)

And to celebrate Sakurai-san's recent marriage, there was a surprise fanfare performance and a bouquet of flowers.
The surprise was a huge success and Sakurai-san was truly surprised.
It was definitely worth checking the flow of the surprise with announcer Hironaka beforehand...!

I think it was an unforgettable experience for the members to perform on stage with such admired celebrities.

And there was an announcement in the Mita-kai meeting,
The Tohoku Youth Orchestra is currently conducting a crowdfunding campaign.
Depending on the amount of your donation, we will provide you with rewards such as TYO merchandise.

In launching this crowdfunding project,
The crowdfunding staff, Hashimoto Yukiho (trombone section) and Kikuchi Ayaka (violin section), worked tirelessly to make this happen.
We would appreciate your support.

★Click here for crowdfunding ~ Please support the activities of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, who are connecting the memories of 3.11 through music ~
https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/506200?list=projects_fresh

After the performance, an interview was recorded for Shibuya Radio's "Shibuya's Tohoku Youth Orchestra."
We plan to present the interviews in several parts.

* "Shibuya's Tohoku Youth Orchestra" Every Wednesday 11:30-11:55
How to listen to the radio → https://shiburadi.com/listen

*You can listen to archives of past episodes on note.
Program note → https://note.com/shiburadi/m/m289709e20a78

We packed up and saw the bus group off. The Kanto group disbanded here.

Tohoku group. Group photo at Tokyo Station before boarding the Shinkansen.

Thank you for your hard work! See you at the next joint practice session in November.