Welcome to APA

THE ORGANIZATION:

APA(Amateur Music Players’ Association, Japan pronounced ei-pa, ei as in eight)is a non-profit organization for amateur chamber music players established in 1974. A nationwide network, it currently consists of about 900 members, of whom 600 reside in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, 200 in the Kansai area, and about 100 are scattered around other parts of the country. There are regular meetings (sessions) for chamber music all over Japan-- for instance there are more than 20 groups meeting (chapters) once or twice a month within the Tokyo metropolitan area alone.

　

APA is a participant in ACMP's Going Places program. If you are contemplating visiting Japan for tourism or on business and wish to play chamber during your stay, we will try to organize chamber music sessions at locations convenient to you, and we may also be able provide instruments for use during your visit. (See APA-ACMP GOING PLACES section).

　

Location
Paredore #2-201, 2-Chome 2-16, Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo
160-0021 JAPAN

　

Organization Contact
info_english@apa-music.org

　

THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2024:

The 6th International Chamber Music Festival 2024　　 2024.1.1.(ver.3)

　

PARTICIPATION IN OUR LOCAL CHAPTERS

Regular APA chamber music meetings are held all over Japan, some weekly, some monthly, some less often. Chamber music players of all nationalities, abilities and experiences are welcome to join the following sessions. Please contact Sayoko Yamashita, Director of International Relations: Email: info_english@apa-music.org. Below is a table listing the chapters, and regular meetings and concerts

Chapter	Meeting time	earby station	Railroad line
<Tokyo Metropolitan area>
1. Seibu-sen		Oizumi-Gakuen	Seibu-line
2. Saitama	3rd Sat or Sun 1-5pm/td>	Urawa	JR
3. Saitama Appointment	4th Sunday 10am-5pm	Yono-Honcho	JR
4. Den-en Toshi	3rd Sun 1-5pm	Aobadai/td>	Tokyu line
5. Toyoko-sen	last Sat 1-9pm	Okurayama	Tokyu line
6. Shonan	2nd Sat 1-5pm	Ofuna	JR
7. Kashiwa	3rd Sun 12-6pm	Chuo-Koen	Tsukuba Express
8. Katsushika	Sat or Sun 1-5pm	Aoto	Keisei line
9.Chuosen	Sat or Sun 1-5pm; 4 concerts yearly	Musashi-Koganei	JR Chuo Line
10. Utsunomiya	1st Sat pm	Tobu-Utsonomiya	Tobu Line
11.Thursday Meeting	1st Thurs 1-5pm 4th Thurs 10am-5pm	Fuchu/Sangu-bashi	Keio or Odakyu Line
12. Grade CD	4th Sun 12:30-5:30pm	Shinjuku	JR
13. Thursday Club	3rd Thur	Shinjuku<	JR
14. Tuesday Meeting	Tue 1-5pm	Shinjuku	JR
15. Flute Meeting	1st Sun 10am-5pm	Shinjuku	JR
16. String Quartet Meeting	Twice monthly Concerts several times a year	Korakuen/Kasuga	Subway
17. bbs FB	2nd Sat pm of every other odd month	Shinjuku	JR
18. Cello ensemble	3rd Fri 1-5pm	Shinjuku	JR
Tokyo area concerts (no regular meetings)
19. Cello Concert	Once yearly	Kawasaki	JR
20. Cello Autumn Concert	Once yearly in October	Musashikoyama	Tokyu line
21. Viola Concert	Once yearly in June
22. Violin Concert	Twice yearly in July & Nov
23. Chamber Music with Piano	Once yearly in Sep or Oct	Kawasaki	JR
24. Works by Women Composers	Once yearly in autumn
25. All Brahms	Two concerts in May and June
<Central Japan area>
26. Tateshina	Once monthly 1-5pm	Fujimi	JR Chuo Honsen line
<Kansai area>
27. Kyoto Sunday Chapter	1st Sun 1-4pm	Kawaramachi	Hankyu line
28. Kyoto Tuesday Chapter	3rd Tues 1-5pm	Kawaramachi	Hankyu line
Kansai area concerts (no regular meetings)
29. Full-movement Concert	Twice yearly	Tsukaguchi	JR Hankyu line
30. APA Chamber Music Concert	Twice yearly in Feb & Sep	Tsukaguchi, Abiko	JR Hankyu line or Subway
31. Kyoto Chamber Music Concert	Twice yearly	Kitaoji	Subway
32. Keihan Classic Concert	Twice yearly	Neyagawashi	Keihan line
33. New Piano Salon	Twice yearly	Tenjinbashisuji-6chome	Hankyu line or Subway
34. Piano and Vocal Concert	Every 5 months	Abiko	Subway
35. Nishikita Salon	3 times a year in Mar, Jul & Nov	Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi	Hankyu line
36. Piano Duo Concert	Yearly in May
37. Piano (solo and duo) Concert	Twice yearly in Jun & Dec	Oji-koen	Hankyu line
38. String Ensemble Concert	Twice yearly in Jan & Jul	Oji-koen	Hankyu line
39. Baroque Concert	Once or twice yearly	Abiko	Subway
Kyushu area concerts (no regular meetings)
40. Kyushu Concert	Once yearly	Fukuoka & Kumamoto

　

APA-ACMP GOING PLACES

APA participates in ACMP’s (Associated Chamber Music Players) Going Places program, an initiative to promote international exchange by making it easier for ACMP members to find people to play with when they travel outside their home country. If you are contemplating visiting Japan for tourism or on business and wish to join ensembles during your stay, please contact APA’s POC, Sayoko Yamashita, apa.goingplaces@gmail.com. APA will try to organize chamber music sessions at locations convenient to you, and we may also be able provide instruments for use during your visit.

　

In April, 2019 APA hosted our first visitor from the USA through Going Places. The following is her report.

GOING PLACES IN JAPAN

On May 12, APA hosted its first international guest as part of the Associated Chamber Music Players’ (ACMP) new Going Places initiative! ACMP established Going Places in late 2018 as a way to broker opportunities for members to play chamber music while traveling abroad. As of this writing there are contacts in six countries: Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Japan. Japan’s POC is Kazumichi Yoshida, organizer of APA’s Chuo-sen group, and also a member of ACMP’s International Ambassadors Council. With a strong belief in the power of music to bring people of diverse cultures together, Kaaz has been organizing an International Music festival each spring, so Going Places was a perfect fit for him.

　

APA’s inaugural event began with an email from Susan Alexander, an American pianist, in February. She would be visiting her son, who teaches English in Tokyo, from late April to mid May. Could anything be arranged? Indeed it could, and a few months later, the group assembled at the JR Musashi Sakai train station and walked over to the Civic Center, where Kaaz had reserved the music room. The players got right to work, for there was a lot of music to fit into four hours: Dvorak quintet Op. 81, Dohnanyi quintet Op 1, and Brahms quartet, Op. 60, for which musicians included Sayoko Yamashita and Kaaz on violin, Takeko Kubodera on viola, and Masako Usuda on cello. Then, during the last hour, Takeko’s husband Toshiro joined in for some Mozart and Schubert trios and Susan’s son, Jeremy, turned pages.

　

Refreshments afforded another fun opportunity for cultural exchange. Susan introduced the group to some cookies she’d brought with her from the US that combined chocolate and mint, which was a new taste for the Japanese players. She, in turn, got to sample a confection of ume plum and natto, definitely not a combination found on American shelves! At 5:00 it was time to adjourn for dinner at a nearby shabu shabu restaurant, another new experience for Susan. Many trays of meat, glasses of umeshu, and cups of sake later, it was, sadly, time to say goodbye, and the participants dispersed to various stations along the Chuosen. It was a fantastic afternoon and evening, and everyone is hopeful that there will be more opportunities to play together in the future!

 

 

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