Junod Music Festival

Profile Emi Onda

Ms. Onda graduated from Elisabeth University of Music where she majored in Musical Instruments Department of Piano course and obtained a Ph.D. finishing graduate master and doctoral courses at the graduate school. She completed a piano course at Department of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts.
She won prizes at various competitions. She received the first prize at the 10th Chugoku Youth Music Competition, and won a prize at the 15th JPTA Piano Audition, then performed at the winners concert. She got the first prize of Sakurapia Award at the 2nd Sakurapia New Players Competition, the first prize at the 7th International Grate Wall of China Concert, and the award of Consulate-General in Osaka, the People’s Republic of China, and others.
She performed with Orchestra of Elisabeth University of Music and Slovak Ladies Chamber Orchestra. Favorable reputation comes out every time she has a regular piano recital and piano duo concert with her sister Ms. Kana Onda.
Piano mentors are Yoshiyasu Hamamoto, Shozo Tsubota, Late Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Hiroko Tsushima, Miho Shibata, and Susumu Aoyagi.
Nowadays, she is a judge at every kind of piano competitions such as Chugoku Youth Music Competition, a guest associate professor at Graduate school of Education, Hiroshima University, and a part-time professor at Elisabeth University of Music.

Profile Kana Onda
Ms. Onda graduated from Department of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts. In 2005 when she was a graduate school student of Tokyo University of the Arts, she won a grand prize of piano part at Iizuka New Players Music Competition and the Incentive Award of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In 2006 she got a silver prize at the superior grade along with an Oji prize at PTNA Piano Competition and a Mitsubishi Pencil Award. In 2009 she studied abroad at Department of Piano, University of Music Freiburg, Germany. She completed at the top of her class in the soloist diploma course and got a German certification for piano artists. In 2009 she received the first prize at Lepthien Piano Concour (German) and was the finalist at Lyon International Piano Concour (France). She came back to Japan in April 2013, and received a favorable reputation holding homecoming piano recitals in Tokyo and Hiroshima in November. She performed with Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Ladies Chamber Orchestra, and Tokyo New City Orchestra and others. Mentors are Yoshiyasu Hamamoto, Takahiro Seki, Susumu Aoyagi, Gabriel Tacchino and Gilead Mishory. Part-time professor at Department of Piano at Tokyo University of the Arts as of November, 2017.

In April 1961, NHK Hiroshima Children Chorus was founded as a children choir which is mainly for NHK broadcasting. Since then they continue a range of performances as a chorus group of an international peace cultural city “Hiroshima” at home and overseas adjusting the transition of the time.
As main activities, they perform at NHK broadcasting programs, events and regular concerts throughout a year; Hiroshima Music Festival of Children’s song; Western Japan Nakayoshi Children Chorus Festival; and Christmas Concert, etc. As guest performances, so many times they participate in Hiroshima Opera Renaissance performance, local opera group-musical performances in Hiroshima, and Nikikai Opera “Carmen” as well. They send a message to the world along with the preciousness of peace by their singing at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6th every year. On the other hand, they promote international goodwill through the singing as well as homestay and joint concerts with foreign chorus groups and artists.
In 1982, they were sent to the United Kingdom on a mission of the 15th Music Educational International Conference by International Society for Music Education as a Japanese representative. It was the beginning of foreign performance trips. Later they visited Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Canada, China, and South Korea, which are 16 times in total. Moreover, Hannover Girls Choir visited Hiroshima in October 2017 so that they had a reunion for the first time in a year and a half. They deepened the friendship and the goodwill through the exchange and the joint concerts.
Hiroshima Culture Award in1991, a Hiroshima UNESCO Activity Incentive Award in 2009, a Hiroshima Regional Culture Meritorious Person Award in 2012, and others went to them.
Nowadays, members are about 100 in total from the 1st grade of elementary school to High school students. They put forth effort to practice twice a week for a better performance and enjoyment of the chorus no matter how different school and age children belong.