On August 9, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space devoted almost its entire floor space to a wide-ranging children's event called "Children's and Artists' Village - Summer Festival, 2006." The program featured an orchestral concert in the venue's main hall and included an introductory workshops in ballet, trumpet, trombone, flute, violin, cello, and such traditional Japanese arts as gagaku (ancient court music), rakugo (storytelling) and staging battle scenes from kabuki plays. There was also a backstage tour, a workshop of artists and children making sketches of the activities around them and other groups that put children into learning encounters with various artists.

 For the day's main event, Ichiro Saito conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. The program included an impassioned performance by tenor Kei Fukui of "Nessum dorma" (Let No One Sleep), the aria from Puccini's opera "Turandot" that got a sudden boost in popularity when Shizuka Arakawa took a gold medal for women's figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics for a performance to the melody (as interpreted by violinist Vanessa-Mae). As a setup to Ravel's "Bolero," the audience had a chance to try clapping the piece's rhythm. The audience-pleasing program came to a rousing finale with everyone clapping time to the "Radetzky March" as conductor Saito pulled emcee Mitsuko Yorichika onstage to take over conducting.

 This event was held again on August 27 at the Citizens Cultural Hall in Kodaira City, Tokyo, the main concert this time performed by The Siena Wind Orchestra, with Yutaka Sado conducting and a wide variety of artists participating. For the orchestra's encore of the Sousa march, "Stars and Stripes Forever," nearly 200 children bearing instruments mounted the stage to play along in a truly grand finale.

 Similar artists' and children's get-together projects are being planned by the Tokyo Orchestra Project Co-operative Society, the Japan Association of Classical Music Presenters and others.