NEWS

Tokyo Mitaka Rotary Club 55th Anniversary Pipe Organ Concert : CU Event Co-hosted by Local Community

Update: April 13, 2023

On Saturday March 25, 2023, a concert to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Tokyo Mitaka Rotary Club was held successfully at the ICU Chapel, with an audience of about 300 people. The event featured performances by the brass band of Mitaka City #4 Junior High School, the choir group of Taisei High School, ICU Special Chamber Strings, and ICU organist Megumi TOKUOKA.

At the beginning of the event, a ceremony was held, in which the donations were presented from Tokyo Mitaka Rotary Club to ICU for supporting Ukrainian students studying at the university and for the promotion of the ICU organ. After the ceremony, the concert began with J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (performed by Megumi TOKUOKA). The piece was followed by Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, by the same composer, which was performed dynamically by the 20 members of Mitaka City #4 Junior High School Brass Band, a big band including a timpanist and a xylophonist. A chorus of Taisei High School students came next and beautifully sang Mae-e (Forward) composed by Kentaro SATO with an organ accompaniment. The final performance of the first half of the concert was Mozart's Church Sonata (KV 382 and KV 336), performed by ICU Special Chamber Strings, which filled the chapel with soothing sound.

The second half of the concert featured pipe organ solo performance: J.C.H. Rinck's Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je Maman (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), Bach's Air in D Major (also known as "Air on the G String"), and L. Vierne's Carillon de Westminster. The audience fully enjoyed the fascinating sound of organ.

This concert was originally planned on a proposal by the Tokyo Mitaka Rotary Club and launched in the hope of sharing the beautiful sound of the Rieger organ (made in Austria) in the ICU Chapel with many people -- local young people in particular. Not only achieving its first goal to serve as a bridge to the local community, the scope has been widened to the world as a charity concert to support Ukraine students. Moreover, the event practically provided valuable opportunity to the students of junior high school, senior high school, and the university, to work in close collaboration with a professional organist, giving them an important experience that might help them in the future.