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ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti and Principal Violin Satu Vänskä standing in front of a taxi in Japan

ACO Japan

日本語

The ACO has deep personal ties with Japan and is proud to have close friends and supporters across the country. 

History in Japan

The ACO first toured Japan in the 1980s. Since then the Orchestra has played to packed concert halls across the country, including in Tokyo and Osaka.

Before the 2023 tour to Tokyo, the Orchestra toured the city back in 2018, with the support of the Australia-Japan Foundation and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, performing two concerts at the prestigious Yomiuri Otemachi Hall.

The concerts were led by Richard Tognetti and reflected the broad scope of repertoire and artistic collaborations that have made the ACO critically acclaimed nationally and internationally in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and arts festivals. During our 2018 tour ACO musicians also conducted a string workshop at the prestigious the Toho Gakuen School of Music and gave a masterclass for double bass students at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku) in Ueno. 

ACO Musicians Timo-Veikko Valve, Ilya Isakovich, Liisa Pallandi, and Glenn Christensen exploring the stores, streets and tastes of Cat Street, Tokyo.
ACO musicians Timo-Veikko 'Tipi' Valve,  Ilya Isakovich,  Liisa Pallandi and Glenn Christensen exploring the stores, streets and tastes of Cat Street, Tokyo. Photo by Nic Walker.
Violinist Aiko Goto in Tokyo’s Lion Café
Violinist Aiko Goto in Tokyo’s Lion Café. Nestled in Shibuya, the unassuming café is a mecca for music lovers looking to indulge in a solitary moment together. Photo by Nic Walker.
ACO Musicians Aiko Goto and Helena Rathbone in Tokyo’s Lion Café
ACO Musicians Aiko Goto and Helena Rathbone in Tokyo’s Lion Café. Photo by Nic Walker.
The ACO performing in Tokyo
The ACO on the stage of Yomiuri Otemachi Hall in Tokyo. Photo by Christie Brewster.
ACO musicians Melissa Barnard and Maja Savnik explore the inner-garden near the Meiji Shrine, Tokyo

ACO musicians Melissa Barnard and Maja Savnik explore the inner-garden near the Meiji Shrine, Tokyo. Photo by Nic Walker.

Personal Ties

Personal ties to Japan run deep with the musicians in the Orchestra.

Richard Tognetti enjoys winter each January in Niseko where he owns a property. Principal Violin Satu Vänskä also visits Japan every year. Vänskä, who was born in Tokushima, attended primary school in Japan and her ties with the country where she was born remain strong today. Both Richard and Satu, as well as other members of the ACO, perform in Niseko at the Niseko Winter Music Festival each year.

Violinist Aiko Goto, who joined the ACO in 1998, grew up in Japan and returns to her homeland each year to perform with Seiji Ozawa’s famous Saito Kinen Orchestra at the Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. Every year since 2000 Aiko performs a charity concert at the Japanese Embassy in Canberra, which since 2011 has raised funds for the Tohoku Japan Earthquake and Tsunami appeal. In 2016 Aiko was awarded a Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for her significant contribution to the Japan-Australia Friendship on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Japan and Australia.

Aiko Goto in Japan. Photo by Nic Walker.
Aiko Goto in Japan. Photo by Nic Walker.