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PRESS RELEASE

No. she023May 20, 2021

LAUNCHING DIGITAL SUNTORY HALL

On 14 April, Suntory Hall launched Digital Suntory Hall (DSH) as part of its 35th anniversary project. This new platform will push forward the Digital Transformation of the hall.

In 2020, Suntory Hall was forced to close its doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and for two months the hall fell silent. When the hall resumed, it was through a live streaming of an organ concert that it was able to connect with the audience again. This received a lot of encouraging feedback from the viewers, and the team at Suntory Hall was able to reaffirm the importance of music to people. At the same time, they realised that the online experience is not just an alternative to the real Suntory Hall, but it has the possibility to provide a new form of entertainment for the digital realm. Online streaming can offer a unique visual experience, and people can watch it whenever and wherever they want.

The aim of Digital Suntory Hall is to deliver music safely and securely both during and after the pandemic, and it hopes that people from all over the world can enjoy the hall’s facilities and concerts regardless of distance, time difference, borders, or language. Currently the contents include Online Events, Virtual Backstage Tour, Streamed Concerts, Online Shop, Video Library, and Performance Archive. All content and information are accessible in English.

The first online event on the Digital Suntory Hall is Digital Open House (available until the May 31, 2021). Every spring, Suntory Hall holds its annual Open House day, but this year it takes place on the Digital Suntory Hall platform. The online event features concerts in the Main Hall and Blue Rose (Small Hall), as well as interactive programmes, which are all filmed with bold and high-resolution camerawork. More exciting online events will be added in the coming months.

Video excerpt from the Press Conference, including DSH introduction video, by Masako Orii, Executive Director of Suntory Hall (5 mins):
https://youtu.be/YUYyDm7bqdY

The outline of Suntory Hall’s 35th anniversary season:
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/feature/2021_22/
Press Release:
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/news/she022.html
For further information and press photos, please contact:
mailto:suntoryhall-pr@suntory.co.jp
Public Relations, Suntory Hall

Website: http://suntory.jp/HALL-e/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suntoryhall/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuntoryHallE

***

DIGITAL SUNTORY HALL
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/dsh/

Main Contents

  • ONLINE EVENT
    DIGITAL OPEN HOUSE (available until May 31, 2021)
    Suntory Hall’s annual Open House event is held online this year. Enjoy the various concerts and interactive programmes for free (see below for details).
    Filming and Video production: TV Man Union, Inc.
    Recording: NHK ART
  • VIRTUAL BACKSTAGE TOUR
    Virtual Backstage Tour will take you on a 3D tour of the various areas inside Suntory Hall, including the Main Hall and the great organ, as well as the artist lounge area and dressing rooms, which are popular destinations on the real Backstage Tours. Choose your place and view in full 360 degrees.
    Filming: General Incorporated Association Virtual Reality Innovation Organization/True Vision
  • LIVE STREAM / ON DEMAND
    Enjoy streamed concerts from Suntory Hall at your leisure wherever you are in the world. There is a listing page of all streamed concerts from Suntory Hall, both on the Digital Suntory Hall platform as well as on external platforms, with all necessary viewing information. Expansion of the streaming platform is planned in the coming months.
  • ONLINE GIFT SHOP
    The Online Gift Shop sells various hall merchandise and music-themed gifts, including T-shirts, bags, stationery and accessories.
    * currently domestic shipping only
  • ARCHIVES
    VIDEO ARCHIVE

    Here you can watch highlight videos of past performances and video messages from the artists from 2014 to the present.

    PERFORMANCE ARCHIVE
    The Performance Archive is as complete as we can present at this time. There may be some omissions in a few cases.

Digital Open House
(Available until May 31, 2021)

Main Hall events
Enjoy popular orchestral and organ music, filmed using crane and drone cameras.

Orchestral Concert
Performers

Ryuichiro Ikariyama, Conductor
Miyu Goto, Piano *
Yokohama Sinfonietta
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Overture to Le nozze di Figaro
Joseph Haydn: The First Movement from Piano Concerto in D Major *
Ludwig van Beethoven: The Fourth Movement from Symphony No. 7 in A Major
“Let’s get on the conductor’s podium!” Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor, Excerpts

Organ Concert
Performer

Maki Nagase, Organ
Programme
Healey Willan: Fanfare in A Major
Johann Sebastian Bach: Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578
Louis Vierne: Carillon de Westminster

Blue Rose (Small Hall) events
Enjoy performances by the fellows of Suntory Hall’s two academies – Chamber Music Academy and Opera Academy, and also music quizzes.

String Quartet Concert
Performers

Fellows of the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy
 Leporem Quartet (Minori Yoshida, Haruno Fukatsu, Violin / Sara Furuichi, Viola / Haruka Nakayama, Cello)
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The First Movement from Divertimento in D Major, K. 136
Antonín Dvořák: The First Movement from String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, “American”

Opera Concert
Performers

Fellows of the Suntory Hall Opera Academy
 Ayane Kodera, Soprano * / Ayaka Kiwada, Soprano ** / Motoki Ishii, Tenor *** / Mieko Maeda, Piano
Programme
Giacomo Puccini: “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi *
Giacomo Puccini: “Si, Mi chiamano Mimì” from La bohème **
Giacomo Puccini: “Nessun dorma” from Turandot ***
Giuseppe Verdi: Brindisi “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” from La Traviata (with the Chamber Music Academy)

Music Orienteering (Hands-on Programme)
Performers

OTOMIC, Music Workshop Artists
An interactive music quiz for both children/beginners and adults/classical music fans.

Digital Suntory Hall Website Design: Concent, Inc.