is a private

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan.

History

Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Children, and two years later moved to Sengawa (current address at Wakabacyo, Chofushi, Tokyo) and opened the Toho High School of Music, to provide quality musical education to teenage girls. Nov.1954 moved to Sengawa (Wakabacyo, Chofu-shi, Tokyo). 1955 saw the establishment of the Junior College and in 1961 the Junior College becomes the Toho Gakuen College Music Department. The College of Music was a pioneer in offering university-level degrees in music in Japan. In 1995 the Toho Orchestra Academy was established in Toyama and in 1999 opened the Toho Gakuen Graduate School, which offers postgraduate degrees.

Studies

Through its high school, college and graduate school, Toho Gakuen offers studies from preparatory diplomas to master's degrees in all orchestral instruments,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

, conducting and musicology.

Notable staff members

Hiroshi Wakasugi was a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement. He was best known for conducting works by German composers such as Richard Wagner, Anton Br ...

, conductor *

Hitomi Kaneko Hitomi Kaneko (金子仁美) is a female Japanese classical music composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. ...

, composer

Notable alumni

* Seiji Ozawa, conductor *

Kazuyoshi Akiyama is a Japanese conductor. Biography Born into a musical family, he studied piano at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, but was fascinated by the conducting activities of a fellow student, Seiji Ozawa. He decided to study conducting with Hideo S ...

, conductor, *

Tadaaki Otaka is a Japanese conductor. Biography Otaka studied composition, theory, and French horn, at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. He was subsequently a conducting student of Hideo Saito. Otaka has served as conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orch ...

, conductor *

Hiroko Nakamura was a Japanese pianist. Born Hiroko Fukuda in Yamanashi, she grew up in Tokyo. She began to study piano at the age of 3 at Toho Gakuen School of Music under Aiko Iguchi. In 1959, whilst a student at Chutobu Junior High School, she won first ...

, pianist * Tōru Yasunaga, violinist * Koichiro Harada, founding member of the

Tokyo String Quartet The was an international string quartet that operated from 1969 to 2013. The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where they studied with Professor Hideo ...

Sadao Harada Sadao may refer to: Places * Sadao, Buachet - Buachet District - Surin Province, North-Eastern Thailand * Sadao, Nang Rong - Nang Rong District - Buriram Province, North-Eastern Thailand * Sadao, Phlapphla Chai - Phlapphla Chai District - Bur ...

, founding member of the

Kazuhide Isomura is a Japanese economist, economic analyst, former senior economist at Nomura Research Institute, and chairman of the Three-Nations Research Institute. He was arrested for sexual offenses in 2004 and 2006. Life and career He entered the Univer ...

, founding member of the

Yoshiko Nakura Yoshiko is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings The name Yoshiko can have a variety of different meanings depending on which kanji characters are used to write it. Over 200 possible variations of the name exist. Some of the most commo ...

, founding member of the

Akiko Suwanai is a Japanese classical violinist. At the age of 18, she became the youngest winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990. In addition, she was awarded second prize in the Paganini Competition in 1988 and Queen Elisabeth Competit ...

, violinist *

Nobuko Imai , is a Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she has played a 1690 Andrea Guarneri instrument. Biography Imai began her musical training at the age of six. She began studying at Tokyo' ...

, violist *

Mayuko Kamio Mayuko Kamio (神尾真由子, born June 12, 1986, in Toyonaka, Osaka) is a Japanese violinist. Biography Kamio currently studies with Zakhar Bron at the Hochschule Musik und Theater (HMT) in Zurich, Switzerland. She plays a Stradivarius fr ...

, violinist *

František Brikcius František Brikcius is a Czech cellist. Early life František Brikcius was born in Prague. From early childhood, he began to play the cello and later studied at the Prague Conservatoire under Professor Jaroslav Kulhan. He was accepted into t ...

, cellist * David Currie, conductor *

Aimi Kobayashi is a Japanese classical pianist. She was a finalist at the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition and won 4th prize at the subsequent XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition. Biography She was born in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and s ...

, pianist * Kokia, singer, composer *

Yukie Nishimura is a prolific Japanese pianist and composer. Nishimura studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music is a private music school in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. History Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Childre ...

, pianist *

Yoko Nozaki Yoko Nozaki (born 1948) is a pianist and musician specializing in chamber music. She is married to the Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax. Background and career Nozaki was born in Tokyo, Japan and studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. A ...

, pianist *

Eiji Oue is a Japanese conductor. Biography Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he met Leonard Bern ...

, conductor. *

Heiichiro Ohyama is a Japanese conductor and violist. Biography He has a long-established reputation as a remarkable conductor and one of the nation’s most renowned violists. In addition to his post as Music Director and Conductor of the Santa Barbara Cham ...

, conductor * Yūji Takahashi, composer, arranger, and pianist

References

External links

* {{authority control Private universities and colleges in Japan Educational institutions established in 1961 Universities and colleges in Tokyo 1961 establishments in Japan Chōfu, Tokyo