Educational Activities
Held year-round (once or twice monthly) / Entrance Hall
Organ Tour for Preschoolers
An enjoyable educational tour about Art Tower Mito's organ, aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners living in Mito. During the tour they get the chance to familiarize themselves with the organ by touching its pipes and keyboard, making sounds with the organ as they do so. They also enjoy organ performances as well as the organ-accompanied choral works. About 1,300 children will participate in this program this year.
Held year-round (three or four times monthly) / Entrance Hall
Organ Promenade Concert
Free half an hour organ concerts are given in the ATM Entrance Hall at noontime on weekends. The organ, installed in a entrance hall reminiscent of European churches, boasts a total of 3,283 pipes, making it one of the largest organs ever built in Japan. The concerts have been given since ATM opened to let people enjoy the sounds of the organ in an casual way.
Held once a year / Ibaraki Prefecture Budokan
Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO) Concert for Children
Photo:Michiharu Okubo
MCO will present a concert to some 2,600 children from Mito and surrounding municipalities, giving them the thrill of experiencing live classical music performances first-hand. They will include fifth graders from elementary schools, as well as pupils from schools for the visulally impaired and those for disabled children. The program will include explanations and introductions about each instruments, letting the students have fun while enjoying the magnificence of the music.
Main sponsers: Mito Arts Foundation, Mito City Board of Education
Co-sponsors: Genden Fureai Ibaraki Foundation
Held once or twice a year / Concert Hall ATM
Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO) Public rehearsal for students
Photo:Michiharu Okubo Mito Chamber Orchestra exposes the students to rehearse for free and let them experience how musicians create the music.
Held once a year
Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO) Large-screen Concert
Photo:Michiharu Okubo Since 2005, the Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO) has been broadcasting its regular concerts live on large screens set up in the city of Mito. Without requiring an admission fee, the broadcast affords listeners the sense of actually being at the concert hall thanks to the vivid images and the high-quality sound of the large screen. This is the eighth time that such a concert will have been held.
Organizer: Mito City, Mito Arts Foundation
Co-organizer: NHK Mito Broadcasting Station
December 2, 2012 / Concert Hall ATM
'12 ATMSF (Art Tower Mito Starlight Fantasy)
ATM Concert 2012 by Elementary and Junior High Schools in Mito City
Photo:Jun Tazawa A concert featuring bands, instrumental ensembles, and choruses from elementary and junior high schools located in Mito City. It provides the opportunity for local people to enjoy the fruits of their children's many hours of practice.
Main sponsors: ATMSF Executive Committee, mito Arts Foundation
February 24 (Sun), 2013 / Concert Hall ATM
Choral Seminar 2013
Photo:Jun Tazawa A seminar designed for local lovers of choral singing. The half-day program features lectures by top-flight teachers and a rehearsal of compulsory works. The lecturer for the upcoming seminar will be the composer Shinichiro Ikebe, who has authored many choral works in his long career.
Main Sponsors:
Mito Arts Foundation, Ibaraki Prefecture Choral Federation, Music Division of the Ibaraki Prefecture High School Education Research Group
February 13-15 (Wed-Fri), 2013 / Concert Hall ATM
Music Appreciation Concert for Junior High School Students
Photo:Jun Tazawa A concert program giving junior high school students the chance to familiarize themselves with music, featuring performances and explanations by members of the Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO) et al. Every year around 2,500 7th-graders from Mito participate.
Co-organizer: Mito City Board of Education