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Behind the Scenes: BBC Proms in Japan

10/1/2020

HarrisonParrott managed the inaugural BBC Proms Japan, a six-day festival with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and its Chief Conductor, Thomas Dausgaard, at Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo and Symphony Hall in Osaka, from 30 October to 4 November

Rose Hooks is part of HarrisonParrott’s touring department, and shares her highlights from the trip.

1. Arriving in Shibuya for the first Prom of the Festival, we were greeted by BBC Proms posters on every pillar in sight.

2. With a complex colour-coded technical schedule accounting for every hour of every day for every venue, we knew things were (mostly!) under control.

3. The crew eagerly awaits the arrival of the cargo truck as it backs into the loading bay, reuniting the musicians with their instruments after almost five days of painful separation.

4. The wonderful Yulianna Avdeeva was the first soloist of the festival, performing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto for the first three concerts of the Festival – pictured here from behind the camera lens.

5. The final adjustments take place on stage at Tokyo’s Orchard Hall, with the lighting department going above and beyond (literally) to bring some of the sparkle and charm of London’s Royal Albert Hall, home of the BBC Proms, to Japan.

6. It’s always a thoroughly enjoyable logistical challenge getting 100 people on to a bullet train within the one minute that the doors are open – a tiny amount of detailed planning involved here.

7. There’s usually a nice view to admire on the trains after all the hard work though – Mount Fuji in all its glory, and for once, a cloudless day.

8. Osaka Symphony Hall was the next stop with their decorative curtains adding a touch of elegance. Useful fact: Osaka Symphony Hall was the first hall in Japan to be designed specifically for classical concerts.

BBC Proms Japan: Osaka Symphony Hall stage set

9. Happy musicians are always one of our most important objectives on tour, so we thought we’d have some wardrobe boxes built specially for the members of the orchestra – no carrying the glad rags around here.

10. In usual BBC Proms fashion, the BBC SSO under Thomas Dausgaard performed not only classics such as Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1, Sibelius’s Finlandia and Mahler’s Symphony No.5, but also contemporary works, including by Japanese composers such as Toshio Hosokawa. Violinist Taro Hakase took to the podium to play – direct some of his best-known pieces with the orchestra.

BBC Proms Japan: Interesting programming

11. We couldn’t spend two weeks in Japan without a quick visit to the World Cup Final, could we?

Toyota Stadium Japan — © Philavert, Pixabay

12. Back to the concert halls where Jess Gillam, joined us for the Last Night of the Japan Proms, performing Milhaud’s Scaramouche Suite

13. The sixth and final performance of the festival, the Last Night of the Japan Proms, had the audience on their feet, waving flags and singing along to the traditional hits we all know and love to hear at the LNOP in London, including Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance and Auld Lang Syne.