Suntory Hall Chamber Music Garden

Now in its twelfth year, Suntory Hall’s annual Chamber Music Garden (CMG) festival takes place over 16 days in June in the intimate space of its “Blue Rose” (Small Hall).

Founded in 2011 in order that people can experience chamber music up close in an intimate setting, CMG has now developed into Japan’s largest chamber music festival. This year, a total of 22 concerts will take place, including Beethoven’s string quartet cycle, an annual fixture. In addition, seven selected concerts will be streamed (live and on-demand) on the Digital Suntory Hall platform.

This year’s festival opens with a sublime evening of clarinet trios, produced and performed by the Hall’s President and cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi with pianist Yu Kosuge, and clarinet player Makoto Yoshida (4 June).

The programme, framed by two late masterpieces of Brahms and Fauré for this formation, also includes Dai Fujikura’s atmospheric Hop, which premiered at the online edition of CMG in 2020.

The Atrium String Quartet, the long-standing Russian group which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, explores the Beethoven string quartet cycle over six days (5-16 June, postponed from 2020).

The group also appears with the renowned horn player Radek Baborák in a programme of chamber music with horn (18 June).

ASIA-Ensemble at TOKYO, another regular fixture which brings together chamber musicians from the Asia region will see the collaboration of Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, winner of Cliburn 2018, with young Japanese string players including violinist Sunao Goko and cellist Gen Yokosaka, in a programme of Mozart and Brahms (10 June).

CMG is a great showcase for the fellows (academy members) and alumni of the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy. Aoi Trio, Academy alumni and winner of the ARD International Music Competition, continues with their seven-year project for the CMG, surveying all of Beethoven’s piano trios in combination with other diverse repertoire – this year’s programme includes Toshio Hosokawa’s Trio (8 June).

Meanwhile, Academy fellows Quartet Integra, fresh from their win at the Bartók World Competition in October 2021, will present a programme chosen from their competition repertoire (6 June).

There are also two concerts by the current Chamber Music Academy fellows (11 & 18 June).

This year’s Fortepiano Kaleidoscope series features three different historical pianos from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the 1818 Nannette Streicher piano played by Yoshio Watanabe in an evening of Beethoven’s cello works with Atsushi Sakai (15 June).

The period instrument group, Den Haag Piano Quintet, makes their CMG debut in a programme including a chamber version of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and the world premiere of Dai Fujikura’s new work (12 June).

Precious 1 pm is a popular series of one-hour concerts held on weekday lunchtimes with talks from the artists from the stage (7, 10, 14 & 17 June).

This year’s line-up is led by festival regular artists including Michie Koyama (piano) and Naoko Yoshino (harp). As a new initiative, shamisen (long-necked fretless Japanese lute) player Hidejiro Honjoh makes his CMG debut as the first musician of a Japanese traditional instrument to appear in the festival, in a groundbreaking concert of chamber music combining Japanese and Western instruments. CMG continues to cater for a diverse audience by having concerts at different times of the day, and it features a strong line-up of world-class musicians across the generations. From chamber music beginners to connoisseurs, there is plenty for everyone to enjoy at Chamber Music Garden.

Full listings of the Chamber Music Garden 2022 can be found at the following:
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/article/detail/000835.html

Text by Nahoko Gotoh
Public Relations, Suntory Hall

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