TalkWednesday 16 March 2016
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Joji Hattori - King of all Trades: the Multifaceted Aspects of a Musician’s Career
Drinks reception from 7:00pm
13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
2016 marks the centenary of Yehudi Menuhin’s birth. To honour and celebrate the life and legacy of one of the 20th century’s greatest violinists and composers, the Menuhin Competition will stage an 11 day festival in London from 7 to 17 April 2016. The competition for young violinists attracts hundreds of entries from over 40 countries, choosing only 44 of the world’s very best to participate.
Joji Hattori is one of the leading Japanese musicians of his generation. He has enjoyed a rather varied career as a musician, spending his first decade as a concert violinist after winning this prestigious competition in 1989. His passion for performing developed into directing chamber orchestras, conducting symphony orchestras and finally operas.
Hattori, now President of the Menuhin Competition Trust and Vice Chair of the London 2016 jury, will show us a glimpse of his world as a conductor and violinist. He will speak about his personal relationship with Yehudi Menuhin, about his multifaceted career and the role of musicians in society, as well as about the historic aspects of Japan’s relationship with Western classical music. The talk will be chaired by musician Michael Spencer, who will frame Hattori’s career within the larger context of Japanese music education.
The Menuhin Competition Trust was awarded a Daiwa Foundation Small Grant in September 2015 to support two Japanese competitors taking part in the London 2016 competition.
About the contributors
Joji Hattori
Joji Hattori is a Japanese musician, violinist, and conductor. In his youth, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music, winning first prize at the Menuhin Competition in 1989. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor and Co-Artistic Director of the Balearic Symphony Orchestra in Palma de Mallorca in 2014. Hattori also remains as Associate Guest Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, a position which he has held since 2004. As a guest conductor he regularly works with many distinguished orchestras and opera houses, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra London and New National Theatre in Tokyo. In 2009, he conducted Mozart’s Magic Flute at the Vienna State Opera, making him the third Japanese conductor in history to conduct there. Hattori is President and Member of the Jury of the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and in 2003 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Michael Spencer (Chair)
Michael Spencer is Managing Director of Sound Strategies Ltd. Formerly a violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra, he is a visiting Professor at the Research Centre for Music and Culture at Ueno Gakuen University in Tokyo and also the Communication Director of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.