Hoffman Estates-based orchestra to tour Austria
The Hoffman Estates-based Midwest Philharmonic Orchestra - the vision of a musician from Japan now residing in the village - will mark its 10th anniversary by embarking on a concert tour of Austria this month.
Though founder and music director Taka Matsunaga said there were other possibilities for the eight-day tour, Austria was always his first choice.
"Austria is obviously the center of classical music," he said.
The 45 students and 20 professionals who make up the orchestra will perform two concerts in Vienna and two more in Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In addition to the performances, the tour will be rife with cultural learning opportunities for the students - most of whom are in high school, with just a few being slightly older or younger, Matsunaga said.
The orchestra developed from the Midwest Conservatory of Music, which the violin-playing Matsunaga and his oboe-playing wife opened in Hoffman Estates 12 years ago. They knew how much learning comes from the opportunity to play for an audience.
"I wanted to share the experience with my students," Matsunaga said.
Today, about 75 percent to 80 percent of the students in the orchestra are from his school, with the rest having joined from other schools. This spring, the orchestra officially detached from the Midwest Conservatory of Music by establishing itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency.
The orchestra has performed outside the Chicago area only once before. Two years ago, it accepted an invitation to play at Detroit's Summer in the Park concert series.
Most of the orchestra's local concerts - in the spring and fall of each year - have taken place at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, east of Hoffman Estates High School on Higgins Road.
But the orchestra did officially play in its own hometown during the Fourth of July festival a few years ago, Matsunaga said.
Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said the orchestra's local performances and the school's opportunity for learning make them a boon for the village.
"I think it's a cultural gem in Hoffman Estates to have an institution of this quality," McLeod said. "We're very proud that they're in the village."
He will be meeting formally with orchestra members on Friday to wish them well on their tour.
Matsunaga's journey from Japan to Hoffman Estates began with a desire to study violin under the tutelage of Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians, whose reputation is revered in his native country. He enrolled at Roosevelt University, where CSO members serve on the faculty.
He said he never felt a strong desire to return to Japan, where there are fewer opportunities to play western instruments like the violin.
After living in downtown Chicago from 1998 to 2004, Matsunaga moved out to the Northwest suburbs, which became the birthplace of his school and orchestra.