The Orchestra's Cry for Help

Following the government's February 26 request to refrain from holding cultural events, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra suspended all performance activities from February 29 onwards, prioritizing the health of our audience and performers. A total of 47 performances through the end of June were cancelled. In addition, 18 performances of the "Summer Vacation Concert," a 45-year tradition enjoyed by three generations of children and families, were also forced to be cancelled.

Monthly income has dropped to zero, while fixed costs to maintain the orchestra are 50 million yen per month, putting a severe strain on management as the situation drags on. With no prospect of resuming full-scale performance activities due to social distancing regulations and other factors, the orchestra faces a deficit of over 400 million yen for the 2020 fiscal year. As a result, the Japan Philharmonic has fallen into insolvency with over 300 million yen in excess liabilities, facing a "crisis of the orchestra's survival."

Securing cash flow is essential to maintain the orchestra's management and continue operations. Fortunately, we gained the understanding of financial institutions and are on track to secure a 400-million-yen credit line, guaranteeing activities for about one year. We have no choice but to take the next steps during this time. The orchestra members, whose compensation was not high to begin with, have resolved to take pay cuts and forgo regular raises and bonuses, and have begun appealing to the world for donations and other support, regardless of appearances, saying, "Please let the Japan Philharmonic's activities survive."

Since late February, orchestra members have been unable to gather for practice and have been striving to study on their own. However, an orchestra is a group that refines its performance by enhancing its ensemble skills. We must protect the traditional sound of the Japan Philharmonic, built over 64 years, at all costs. Furthermore, all members are suffering from the inability to deliver music to our audience. The Japan Philharmonic has valued interaction with many people through music and has delivered music to familiar places. We feel a crisis where "communication through music" itself is being severed, and culture is disappearing from our daily lives. It can be said that the entire musical culture is facing a crisis.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, performers around the world began streaming their performances online one after another. The telework video "Paprika" by volunteers from the New Japan Philharmonic reached over one million views, lighting a fire in the hearts of people staying at home. The Japan Philharmonic also released past performance videos as "Classic Chui-kiki" (A Little Listen to Classics) in collaboration with TV Man Union. Many organizations without support from television stations, such as orchestras and choirs, also participated, creating a circle of connection.

The "Music for the Disaster-Stricken Areas" visiting activities, which the Japan Philharmonic had continued 293 times since the Great East Japan Earthquake, were also suspended. However, in June, we held a trial online discussion with the Miyako High School Brass Band, with whom we had a relationship. The high school students, who had been pessimistic about not being able to perform, changed to lively faces through dialogue with performers who face their craft with sincerity. I saw a glimpse of the power of music to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

Then, on June 10, emerging from the long tunnel of self-restraint from performances, we held the "Special Afternoon Online Special" (a performance without an audience, with a paid live stream) co-hosted with Suntory Hall. This became a pioneer for the resumption of performances by Japanese orchestras. Adhering to public guidelines from the government and other bodies, a "social distance ensemble" of 21 string players, conducted by Junichi Hirokami, played the first note of the long journey toward the normalization of concerts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally jeopardized the management of not only the Japan Philharmonic but the entire orchestra industry. Each orchestra is expected to lose between 200 and 500 million yen annually, and even if they do not fall into insolvency, there will be significant damage to their net assets. The loss for the entire industry may reach several billion yen.

The reality of orchestra management is that total operating expenses cannot be covered by performance fee income alone, and the balance is met through external funds such as subsidies, donations, and sponsorships. For metropolitan-style self-managed orchestras that do not have large sponsors, the ratio of performance fees to income is high, reaching 60% to 70%. The cancellation of concerts naturally increases the amount of loss and raises the intensity of the cry for help. While this is a crisis for individual organizations, the entire industry will also suffer for a long time with this negative legacy. This is a crisis suffered not only by musical organizations but by cultural and artistic organizations as well.

Furthermore, most orchestras are public interest incorporated foundations and are bound by the "principle of balancing income and expenditures," which requires them to break even annually. On top of that, it is a strict system where an organization is dissolved if its net assets fall below 3 million yen for two consecutive years. To deal with such a situation that far exceeds management efforts, significant capital injection by the government is necessary, such as the setting of a grace period for loss of qualification and permanent subordinated loans. These are means of bailing out companies, but shouldn't they be applied precisely to cultural and artistic organizations that cannot generate profit? The question now is how to minimize the damage to culture and the arts.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we were reminded of how empty and dry a world without culture and the arts is. We were poignantly confronted with the fact that culture and the arts are indispensable in our lives and essential for mental health.

Some countries faced the COVID-19 pandemic by placing "society, economy, and culture" on equal footing. Is it not time to reconsider the weight of culture and the arts?