Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra

Shunsaku Tsutsumi and a group of young musicians founded the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra in 1975 as a self-governing ensemble. Its activities encompass symphonic concerts, opera, ballet, recordings and television, including TV Asahi’s Untitled Concert. A partnership with Tokyo’s Koto ward, begun in 1994, developed into open rehearsals, school visits, masterclasses and support for the Tiara-Koto Junior Orchestra. Under Taijiro Iimori, the orchestra presented Wagner’s Ring between 2000 and 2003 in concert staging, followed by further Wagner operas. Ken Takaseki became principal conductor in 2015. Formed in 1975, the Tokyo City Philharmonic reached its fiftieth season in 2025 and holds its place among the many professional orchestras of a city unusually well supplied with them. Its subscription concerts are given at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, with a second series at Tiara Kōtō under a long-standing partnership with Kōtō ward. Ken Takaseki has led the orchestra as principal conductor in recent seasons.