OSU wind ensemble only American group invited to perform at the 37th annual Yamaha All-Japan Band Director's Clinic

OSU’s Wind Ensemble will travel to Japan at the end of May to be the only American group invited to perform at the 37th Annual Yamaha All-Japan Band Director’s Clinic. The ensemble is one of only 10 American groups ever invited to perform at the event.

STILLWATER, OKLA. – The Oklahoma State University Wind Ensemble has been invited to be the only American group to perform at the 37th Annual Yamaha All-Japan Band Directors Clinic in May, adding the ensemble to a short list of American band participants since the start of the event.

Dr. Joseph Missal, director of bands, said he has wanted to perform at this event, because it is a great honor and there are only about 10 American bands to perform at the clinic in its 37 years.

The wind ensemble received an invitation for the clinic, after professionals of the Japanese musical public reviewed the ensembles audition CD, from their 2003 performance at the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles in England.

The 53-member ensemble will perform for about 2,500 Japanese musical professionals at the clinic, in Hamamatsu, Japan.  The ensembles trip is more of a tour, according to Missal.  The band will hold multiple rehearsals in Japan that are open to the musical public and they will also perform another concert in Tokyo.

Along with being invited to perform at the clinic, the ensemble will perform at the Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo.  

"As, we understand, Musashino Academy is equivalent to Julliard or Eastman, in the United States," Missal said.

This touring performance in Japan adds to the ensembles list of nationally acclaimed performances including the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, in Schladming, Austria and in California, and the 2003 British Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Manchester, England and two performances in the Canadian Band Masters Clinic.

Across the OSU System

OSU-Tulsa
OSU-Okmulgee
OSU-Oklahoma City
OSU-Center for Health Sciences