HIDEAKI HIRAI
Music Director and Conductor
Join the N Y "festival" Orchestra to Celebrate the Spirit of the Great Composers!
CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT! "Maestro Hirai was especially impressive. Conducting from memory, he demonstrated his deep knowledge of the score with unflagging energy and intense concentration. He was dynamic, confident, and completely engaged for the entire 75 minutes"
- New York Concert Review -
Profile
The New York Festival Orchestra (NYFO) made an astonishing debut at Carnegie Hall / Stern Auditorium in December, 2013. The orchestra features young artists who have graduated from top New York and international music schools and are winners of national and international competitions world-wide. Most of them are also experienced orchestra musicians. Not surprisingly, the authors of the three reviews, received by the orchestra after the concert, speak very highly of the outstanding performance level of this orchestral debut.
New York Festival Orchestra (NYFO) is a project of the nonprofit organization, FORTE 90, INC. To learn more about FORTE 90, INC., please go to our Educational and Outreach Programs page.
Mission statement
The New York Festival Orchestra (NYFO) shall focus on "CROSS CULTURAL EXCHANGE" opportunities to celebrate the "GOODWILL" among versatile nationalities in New York City area which is often called "a melting pot". This idea derives from our very first concert (U.S.A.-JAPAN Goodwill Concert in aid of the Phillippines' typhoon victims) which took place at the Carnegie Hall - Stern Auditorium under the baton of the prominent Japanese conductor, HIDEAKI HIRAI. Maestro Hirai was immediately appointed as NYFO's Music Director and Conductor upon our great success, starting with 2014-2015 season.
The concert was enthusiastically received by nearly 3,000 music lovers, who packed the most famous concert hall in the U.S. It also received rave reviews from critics; which naturally led us to start this organization. We believe that music is the world's best "CULTURAL AMBASSADOR" which can make human lives ever better.
NYFO will explore our future activities from "3 perspectives" as below:
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New York Festival Orchestra shall share, respect and celebrate "the spirit of the great composers" as if it were a "FESTIVAL" to dedicate our sincere and passionate performances of their masterworks.
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New York Festival Orchestra shall plan to have educational and outreach programs as well as regular subscription concerts and tours to share the "GOODWILL" among many countries in the world.
NYFO is a project of the not-for-profit organization, "Forte90, Inc." which has contributed extensively to bring enlightening live music to various areas and different generations of people over many years. The Orchestra will build up our efforts and commitment to follow such wonderful tradition.
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Since many great composers have been often influenced by other genres of arts, NYFO intends to collaborate with various arts such as painting, photography, literature, ceramics and fashion through exhibitions in the lobby or article series in the program booklet along with our performances. We hope that the audience can share the feelings of the "TOTAL ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE" with us and enjoy our concert even more deeply.