Two renowned concert halls, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Carnegie Hall in New York, signed an agreement on September 14, 2006 for exchanging artists and other personnel in educational programs at the respective venues.
The agreement will expand the range of Suntory Hall's offerings, allowing it to invite internationally famous artists as instructors, open the way to exchanges of personnel with Carnegie Hall and establish its own versions of educational programs used by Carnegie Hall. Another feature of the agreement is that it will enable Carnegie Hall to collaborate with Suntory Hall on planning new programs having themes from Japanese culture.
In 2008, Suntory Hall will begin offering two Carnegie Hall programs, called CarnegieKids and Professional Training Workshops.
CarnegieKids is a 45-minute class for preschool children aged 3-6 that includes experiential learning and animated percussion, brass, woodwind and string instruments that talk and play. The musicians will come to Japan from New York.
The Professional Training Workshop is a training program for young music school students. Selected by audition, the students will participate in open master classes in solo piano, violin, etc., taught by well-known soloists provided by Carnegie Hall. Also, the participants will be given instruction in performing concertos with student orchestras to be held at Suntory Hall.
Distinguished as the first facility built in Tokyo for exclusive use as a concert hall, Suntory Hall is celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2006. Education programs have been a part of its agenda from the beginning, and the 2006 season will offer a total of twenty programs in the following three categories: (1) "Spreading the joy of classical music to the younger generation," (2) "Invitation to a rich life" and (3) "Fostering young artists."
Carnegie Hall was established in 1891. Its educational programs are developed and implemented by the Weill Music Institute, located within Carnegie Hall. In excess of 350 events are held annually, targeting the general public, children from preschoolers to high school students and young musicians. Recently, the institute has gained the capability of providing educational programs nationally and worldwide through the Internet and distance learning technology.
