Dear Philharmonia musicians!!!

I am super excited for my residency with Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra that is coming up. I am extremely pumped for the masterclasses with the various High School Orchestras and collaborating with all of you!!!!

I hope you are enjoying the preparation process.
Maestro Anderson is a dear friend of mine, we went to school together xxx years ago and have been great friends since. I can’t wait to hear your interpretation of the repertoire and mold together my ideas.

I wanted to take a chance to share you Tom Vignieri’s website.
I believe your performance of An American Hymn will be the Mid-West Premiere? I’m pretty sure it’s an Illinois premiere. YAY!
New music by a LIVING American composer!! It is one of my favorite contemporary works and I hope you love it too.

Make sure to listen to the recording on his website.
Does this recording perform similar to the way you have been rehearsing?
What can each of you bring to make it a special version that says “this is EYSO Philharmonia’s An American Hymn“? As performer, you have the window to be an artist, to have a vision, to have an opinion, to have an idea. What you hear in this recording is just one interpretation. Think about what your sound is, your voice is when you perform Vignieri’s An American Hymn. Enjoy the process!

http://tomvignieri.com/listen.htm

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I’m a big believer that in order to give your very best performance of a composition, you must be exposed to as many interpretation as possible. Unless it’s a premiere, you set the standard.

For example.
Do you have a favorite donut? I do, it’s this Oreo Donut from a place called VooDoo Donut in Portland, Oregon.
The only way I have a favorite donut is because over the course of my entire life, I’ve had countless donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Hotels and Homemade from all around the world. From tasty ones to absolutely disgusting stale ones, I’ve had them. By sampling many, I’ve found my favorite.

This is the same way with music. You have access to SO MANY recordings online and fantastic live performances in Illinois. You have your favorite soloist and you have your favorite orchestra sound.

By exposing yourself to a lot of interpretations, you start to find out more about yourself. We are performing together great masterworks by Bruch, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. I have put together a Spotify playlist for you to subscribe to or listen on this website. As I find new recordings, I will add them to the list. I love listening to the extremes. Especially with the tempi of Tchaikovsky and the ending of Shostakovich, it is countless, as you may already know.

If you are not familiar with Spotify, it’s a free online music streaming program.
It’s a great resource to have, so I highly recommend getting it.

As you do your homework at home or just mindlessly browsing Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, keep the Spotify playing in the background. You don’t have to actively listen to them. Put it on shuffle and just enjoy it as background music. Once in a while you may encounter a crazy interpretation and find yourself shouting “WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT? WHO WAS THAT?” and that is perfect. (P.S. I tend to throw some curve ball recordings of popular pieces, you’ll see!!)

As you expose yourself to many interpretation, we can be flexible with OUR interpretation of those pieces.

Looking forward to spending time with you soon!!
Remember, if it’s a tricky passage, JUST SLOW IT DOWN and use a metronome, bring up the tempo one click at a time so you really master it.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly on my Facebook page.

If you would like to subscribe to the playlist so you can listen to it on your app, HERE

ENJOY!!!!

Tucson Symphony Orchestra and I went on an adventure this season to collaborate with the Tucson Fox Theatre.

TSO ROCKS THE FOX presented two shows from Jeans n’ Classics.
1) For Michael – Music of Michael Jackson (Gavin Hope)
2) One Vision – The Music of Queen (Michael Shotton)

Michael Jackson show had two hiccups. 1. The downtown construction in Tucson…grrr, so annoying. 2. The project didn’t have enough time to PR to the community.

We still had a good turn out for a first time concert with a new series.
You can read the review on AZ Dailystar from the show by clicking here.

The Queen show had enough time to get the word out to the community. Advertising in the local rock radio station to more PR on social media. And it showed. The audience attendance was much much higher. The MJ show had solid audience, but the Queen show was packed. What was also obvious was, majority of those who came to MJ concert returned to experience the Queen show. This is wonderful, we now have fans for this series.

The success of the TSO ROCKS THE FOX series has led us to a second season engagement.
This makes me really happy.

An Evening With Pink Floyd – October 11, 2013
The Amazing 80s – March 28, 2014

Thoughts.
Do these concerts increase concert goers to the Masterworks/Classics concerts? I don’t know. We would have to do a statistical analysis to see if the TSO ROCKS THE FOX audience are motivated to attend a subscription concert or not. My guess is not so much.

The TSO ROCKS THE FOX concert is going to have its own crowd. As I talked to the audience members during intermission, I found out that majority were attending a Tucson Symphony Orchestra concert for their first time. For some, it was the first time they have ever been to a live orchestra concert.

I could only hope that these audience members will want to go to a classics concert in the future. I think it will be my goal and role to express that to the patrons during intermission and from the stage. Something to think about for the next show.

This series is definitely good for the Tucson community. It reaches out to those audience that would prefer to listen to Rock-N-Roll than Mozart, Beethoven or Mahler. I am also happy to see that many of the TSO musicians are having fun on stage. It’s great to see them sing along and I love it when Letitia Bryant (Principal Bassoon) and Johanna Lundy (Principal Horn) jumps on their feet and starts dancing while the rest of the orchestra is still playing. Hilarious, and the crowd went wild for them at the Queens concert.

On a side note, at each of these concerts, I wear a themed cufflink to be in the right spirit for the concert.

All in all, a great test drive season. So thankful for the collaboration with TSO, I am so honored to be working with them again next season and can’t wait for PINK FLOYD! Special thanks to Gavin Hope(MJ), Michael Shotton(Queen), Peter Brennan(founder), Lis Soderberg(vocal), Katalin Kiss(vocal), Kathryn Rose(vocal) and the band from Jeans n’ Classics. Thanks to Tucson Fox Theatre and their wonderful staff!!

Last but not least, thank you Tucson fans for attending the shows. Looking forward to seeing you again in the fall and make sure to bring your friends!!!! Check out the 2013-2014 TSO season!!! If you’ve never been to a TSO concert, you are missing out. The Tucson Symphony Orchestra if YOUR orchestra. The professional orchestra of your town. The way you cheer for the Wildcat games at UA, it is totally cool to cheer for your orchestra!!  The way you have favorite Wildcat players, you are allowed to have favorite musicians from the orchestra. Read about them here–> http://tucsonsymphony.org/about-the-tso/orchestra

Do me a huge favor, tell us what you thought about this series. You can post your comments on the Facebook Fan Page. Tell us what you liked, tell us what you didn’t like, and tell us what other music you would like to hear!!

TUCSON SYMPHONY FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

JEANS N’ CLASSICS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

TUCSON FOX THEATRE FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

KEITARO HARADA FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

Thank you for being an amazing audience, lets rock the house again in October!!

４月４日に僕がテレビのドキュメンタリーで紹介されました。
是非見て下さい（英語）

~link to the article~

I’m featured on the weekly Japanese magazine WEEKLY LALALA this week. Please check it out at your local asian market when you get a chance. (only in Japanese)

http://phoenixyouthsymphony.org/ensembles/auditions/

毎年２月に日本の『お祭り』がフェニックスで行われます。
僕は毎年『ミヤ・ポテリー』にて絶対買い物します！
宮さんはニューメキシコ州に住んでいる陶芸家です。
とても素晴らしい作品を毎年フェニックスに持ってきてくれます。
ここ数年でけっこうコレクションが増えました。
写真を見て下さい。そして是非彼女のホームページも見て下さい。

For more information please visit MIYA POTTERY website
www.miyapottery.com
www.miyapottery.etsy.com

I have been selected as one of the recipients for the League of American Orchestras 2013 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview. It is an event where the nation’s top emerging conductors are showcased in front of artist managers, artistic administrators, and search committees seeking their next music director and/or guest conductors. I will be conducting the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in March.

Click HERE for the official press release.

I am having a wonderful start in 2013 with my Arizona Opera debut with Tosca last weekend. Following Tosca, I will be assisting in Il Trovatore (February 6 – March 9).

March 10, I will conduct Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring on a side-by-side concert with The Phoenix Symphony and Phoenix Youth Symphony, to celebrate the centennial of the composition.

March 11-13, I will participate in the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview and conduct the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

March 14-16, I return to Arizona to conduct Sierra Vista Symphony and collaborate with my dear friend Erika Tazawa, on Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 coupled with Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 and Tom Vignieri‘s An American Hymn.

March 17, I return to Arizona Opera for Marriage of Figaro until mid April, with a fun Rock concert with Tucson Symphony Orchestra in the middle of those weeks.

Phew…. There is more, but I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that all this could not be possible without your wonderful support.

I feel completely blessed by the many opportunities.

I hope to never step on the break with my studying, so I can understand the score more to recreate the composer’s intent and show to our communities that live, classical music is awesome.

Thank you once again for your support and believing that I can do this.

My new conducting demo can be viewed at MEDIA PAGE or directly from YouTube

新年早々　幸運の女神が　微笑んでくれました。

大ニュースです。

2013年ブルーノ・ワルター指揮者プレビューに原田慶太楼が選ばれました。

このイベントは　リーグ・オフ・アメリカン・オーケストラ(アメリカのオーケストラ協会) が2年に一度主催して　
今現在活躍して期待されている指揮者を選んで頂いて
お披露目して下さるイベントが行われます。
今回僕を入れて6人が選ばれました。
3月11日ー13日にて　フロリダ州ジャクソンビル交響楽団を振ります。

お客様は　新しい音楽監督を探しているトッブクラスのオーケストラの代表者
スタッフ指揮者を探しているオーケストラの代表者　
新しい客演指揮者を探しているオーケストラの代表者　
そして大勢のマネージャーの方達が集まって下さいます。　

オフィシャルプレスリリースはこちらのクリックして下さい。

これは僕にとって素晴らしいチャンスの舞台です。来シーズンの客演を増やす為にベストなイベント。

2013年は1月にアリゾナオペラで『トスカ』を振りました。

3月10日はフェニックス交響楽団と青少年オーケストラと一緒にストラヴィンスキー『春の祭典』
3月11-13日はブルーノ・ワルター指揮者プレビュー。『ベートーヴェン交響曲２番、ドン・ファン、こうもり』
3月14-16日はシエラ・ヴィスタ交響楽団、ピアノソリストは田沢恵里香
3月17日から4月は『フィガロの結婚』、そしてツーソン交響楽団とのロックコンサート。

まだまだ沢山あります！
これだけの経験を得られるのは皆様の応援のおかげです。
これからもよろしくお願いします。
僕の新しい指揮デモビデオはこちらにてご覧下さい MEDIA PAGE 又は YouTube

You can follow my activities, mainly pictures of food thru my Facebook, Twitter or Flickr.

I have a lot of exciting news coming up for season 2013-2014 and also 2014-2015. I can’t share them yet but stay tuned. Thank you once again and I wish everyone a wonderful 2013.

２０１２年も今日で最後ですね。
１２ヶ月で二万一千以上の僕のホームページへのアクセスがありました。
感謝の気持ちでいっぱいです、本当に応援ありがとうございます。

この冬は少しお休みをとって実家の東京に戻って来ました。
２年ぶりのお正月、とても楽しみです。
食べてばかりの３週間です、やはり日本食はうまい！

またソーシャルメディアでの応援も宜しくおねがいします。
ここ３週間は食べ物の写真ばかりですけど。。（笑）
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フリッカー

２０１３−２０１４年のシーズン、そして２０１４−２０１５年のシーズン、沢山新情報があります。でもまだ公表できないので、乞うご期待！みなさん、良いお年をお迎え下さい。

I am super excited to announce that I will be conducting one of Arizona Opera’s Tosca in January. This will be my main stage debut with Arizona Opera.

Conductor – Keitaro Harada
Director – Bernard Uzan
Tosca – Karen Slack
Cavaradossi – Garrett Sorenson
Scarpia – Kristopher Irmiter
Sacristan – Peter Strummer
Angelotti – Kevin Burdette
Spoletta – David Margulis
Sciarrone – Thomas Cannon
Jailer – Kevin Burdette
Shepherd Boy – Bevin Hill
Arizona Opera Orchestra
Arizona Opera Chorus
Phoenix Boys Choir

click HERE to purchase tickets

Hope you can come!!!!!!!!!!!!