No.38 Fun Ninth Symphony Choir

(Inagi Newsletter December 15, 2014 issue)

On October 17, 2014, as part of the Inagi City Citizen Cultural Festival and Inagi City Arts Festival at the I Town Inagi Citizen Festival, a concert by the citizen choir was held at the i Plaza Hall. The piece performed was the 4th movement from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and I also participated in the bass part.
Looking back, last year marked the 40th anniversary of the Inagi City Arts and Culture Association, and the president suggested that we perform the Ninth Symphony as a celebration, to which I was also invited.
Choir? I was momentarily puzzled, but thinking about it, I haven't had any memories of it since middle school. Recently, aside from karaoke, I haven't had the opportunity to sing in front of others, but I casually thought about trying it again after several decades. I ended up giving an easy response.
This year, at the formation ceremony on April 24, everyone gathered at the venue seemed to be experienced individuals, such as members of the chorus. As I nervously introduced myself, everyone looked surprised and said, "What! The mayor is going to sing?" Right after the formation ceremony, we had our first practice, and I was given the sheet music, which led to some regret, no, a lot of regret. I couldn't keep up with the notes, and I struggled with the German language, which I hadn't used since graduating from university. However, since it is a choir, I was determined to attend practice as much as possible so as not to hold everyone back.

This practice session lasted for six months starting from April 2014, consisting of a total of 25 sessions, and we received guidance from Mr. Morino, a lecturer at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and a member of the Nikikai, who resides in Inagi City. Additionally, from the middle of the sessions, we also received guidance from Ms. Shimizu, a vocalist who will be performing as a soloist on the day of the event and who was previously a resident of Inagi City. Furthermore, in the latter half, we received guidance from Mr. Goto, a violist from the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, who will be conducting the performance. Mr. Goto recently moved to Inagi City, which is why he agreed to take on the conducting role this time.
On the day of the event, we enjoyed an opera performed by soloists in the first part, and welcomed the performance of the fourth movement in the second part, achieving results that exceeded our rehearsal. We received many voices of "joy" from the attendees.
We were all moved to see how we have grown from a gathered group into a cohesive citizens' choir over the past six months, and we believe we were able to share the time and emotions in the hall with the citizens who attended.
Through this experience, I recognized that the development of arts and cultural activities is also an important element for Inagi to continue to advance and for more citizens to recognize our town and hometown.
I am very pleased to hear that there have been requests for this to continue in the future, as a member of the participating group. We would like to support and sponsor the concert, which is by the citizens for the citizens, so that it can continue for a long time.