Izumi MS youth choir Master Class
The choir was founded in 1994 as an extracurricular class for current and former students of Tokyo Izumi Kindergarten.
The choir made its debut as the youngest choir in the boys' and girls' choir field, with an average age of 6, and attracted much attention.
Currently, there are a total of 200 students in the junior and master classes, ranging in age from 4 to 18, who have received MS music education at the school. They aim for rich expression and musicianship, making full use of the beautiful high-toned sound of the head voice vocalization cultivated in kindergarten.
They have won the Gold Prize at the Tokyo Vocal Ensemble Contest, the Gold Prize (Aozora Prize) five times in a row and the Teacher's Special Prize at the JCA Junior Chorus Festival. They won the Silver Prize in the Junior Division of the A Capella "Miklos Kocsar Competition". In 2002, they performed with Maria Pomianowska, the wife of the Polish ambassador to Japan and an ancient instrumentalist, and held the Silk Road Concert, inviting the late Prince Takamado and ambassadors from various countries, which was very successful. In 2004, they won the second prize in the Children's Song Contest sponsored by Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, and received the Music Education Promotion Award sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers. In 2005, 2007, and 2014, they made concert tours to Poland and Germany, performing at the National Opera House and the Royal Palace in Warsaw, and also recorded CDs and appeared on TV and radio. Since returning to Japan, they performed at the triumphal concert, Adachi-ku Piano Marathon, Adachi-ku Music Festival, the 2nd Reconstruction Support Concert sponsored by Mainichi Shimbun, the Piano and Flute Concert, the Reconstruction Support Concert at Tokyo Opera City, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Pipo-kun Family Concert, which was very successful. In 2020, they won the Gold Prize at the Tokyo Choral Festival sponsored by the Tokyo Choral Association, and in 2021, they won the Gold Prize, the First Prize and the President's Prize of the Tokyo Choral Association at the Tokyo Spring Chorus Contest.
Conductor Naoto Sugimoto
He graduated from Senzoku Gakuen College of Music with first prize in the piano course. He won the first prize, the Grand Prix, the Fazioli Prize and the Kanagawa Newspaper Prize at the 14th Japan Player's Competition. He won the Grand Prize and the Mayor of Kobe Award at the 20th KOBE International Music Contest. He won the Gold Prize and the Grand Prix in both the Solo Division and the First Appearance Division of the 14th Suganami Piano Competition. The 8th Beten Music Competition, 1st Prize and Grand Prix in all categories. The 17th Sakura Pia Newcomer Competition, Sakura Pia Grand Prize. He was a finalist in the special class of the 40th PTNA Piano Competition. He has also won prizes and awards at many other competitions. He has performed with the Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and others under the baton of Yasuhiko Shiozawa, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Junji Yamagami, Hiroyasu Matsumoto, and Chikara Iwamura. He has been invited to perform at La Folle Journée au Japon, the Mainichi Newspapers' Charity Concert to Support the Recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Nippon Foundation Lunchtime Concert, and the Pitina Ehime Branch 30th Anniversary Concert. He is an instructor at the Tokyo Izumi Kindergarten Piano Master Class and the Izumi MS Childhood and Elementary Choir Master Class. He is actively involved in choral teaching and accompaniment. He has also received the Gold Prize at the Tokyo Choral Festival sponsored by the Tokyo Choral Association in 2020, and the Gold Prize, 1st Place, and the Tokyo Choral Association President's Prize at the Tokyo Spring Chorus Contest in 2021.
