2026年、Ｎ響は創立100年を迎えます

NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo (NHKSO) marks its 100th Anniversary in 2026

On October 1926, three years after Tokyo was struck by the Great Kanto Earthquake, some forty musicians held the founding ceremony of a symphonic orchestra at a music management office in Sukiyabashi, Tokyo, where the devastation from the disaster still remained. That was the moment when the New Symphony Orchestra, Japan’s first full-fledged orchestra, and the predecessor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, came into being. Since then, it has performed with conductors and soloists at the world’s forefront, and has made remarkable progress to become the orchestra to represent Japan, and furthermore, was recognized as equal to renowned orchestras of Europe and America. That path was also a history it walked along with the broadcasting of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). The NHK Symphony Orchestra has not only performed innumerable concerts across Japan, but also delivered classical music masterpieces of the world to every corner of the country through broadcasting, and shared comfort and vitality with the public. There were many hardships on our journey, including the Second World War, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, however, thanks to the exceptional support by many people of the industry and classical music fans, the orchestra has been able to walk through a history of a century. For that, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all the people concerned. We will continue to devote ourselves to pursue further efforts to pioneer a new era toward the next one hundred years. And I would like to ask for your support as we continue to move forward.

Koichi Nakanoya
The Chairman of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo