Hello everyone, my name is Mami Abe, Coordinator of IHS JAPAN.

I currently live in Tokyo, Japan. This year’s Symposium will be held in Natal, Brazil, which is roughly 12,000 km along a straight line from Japan to Brazil. Hypothetically, if I were to dig down straight starting from my house in Tokyo, I would be able to reach Brazil. However, there is no such technology at this moment… The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, appeared during the closing ceremony of Rio Olympic games dressed in SUPER MARIO by a Warp Pipe from Shibuya, Japan. In simple terms, Brazil is the opposite side of the world to Japan.

The shortest way by flying from Japan to Brazil would take roughly 35 hours long (1day and 11 hours, one day and a half).

About 250,000 Japanese people migrated to Brazil starting 100 years ago, and now they have grown to a community of 1.6 million people. Furthermore, many Brazilians have moved to different parts of Japan. It is not too much to say that the manufacturing companies are supported by a growing Brazilian population in Japan.

I am a travel enthusiast. I have attended many International Symposia: Munich, Kansas City (Missouri), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Los Angeles, Ithaca.

I have met many new hornists during these events and tremendously enjoyed being able to perform together in mass horn choirs.

Brazil’s music and food have been gaining popularity in Japan. If time permits, I would like to go to Brazil.

My recent trip to the USA was exhausting enough. I wonder what fun awaits me after traveling a day and half to Natal. Whether it’s listening to Samba and Bossa Nova, or eating Brazilian food in Natal, I am certain I will enjoy my time there.

I am truly looking forward to meeting new people from around the world in Natal, Brazil.

English version

みなさん、こんにちは、私の名前はアベマミと申します。

今日本の東京に住んでいます。今年のシンポジウムはブラジルのナタルという町で開催されるそうですが、日本とブラジルは直線距離で12,000kmあります。我が家の下をずーっと掘っていくとたどり着けそうですが、まだその技術は開発されていないようです、、、日本の安倍首相は、リオオリンピックの際、渋谷からマリオに変身して閉会式に登場しましたね。ちょうど地球の真裏にあたるようです。

そんなに遠いところに行くには、飛行機を乗り継いで最短で３５時間（1日と１１時間、1日半）かかるようです。

そんな遠いところに１００年も前から約２５万人の日本人が移住し、１６０万人という大きなコミュニティがあると聞いています。
さらに日本には、各地にブラジルの方が多く住む町も増えています。今や日本の製造業を支えていると言っても過言ではありません。

ブラジルの音楽、食べ物は広く日本にも知られており、今回ブラジルに行けるのであればとても楽しみです。

私は旅行が好きです。国際シンポジウムにはミュンヘン、カンザスミズーリ、ラ・ショード・フォン、ロス、イサカに参加していきました。その先々で、ホルンを愛する人と出会うことができましたし、みんなと同じ音楽を奏でることができるマスクワイアに参加することが大好きになりました。

アメリカに行くのだって最近は疲れてしまうのに、１日半かけていくナタルには、どんな楽しみが待っているでしょうか？本場のサンバやボサノバを聴いたら、踊りたくなるでしょうし、美味しい食べ物をいただいたら幸せの気分になること間違いなしです。

世界中の方々をお会いできる日を楽しみにしております。

by Tod Bowermaster

I have been Third Horn in the Sun Valley Summer Symphony for the last 21 years, and it's right around these frigid, grey January days in St. Louis that I begin daydreaming of sunny, blue-sky days in the Idaho mountains, days filled with gorgeous music and good times spent with dear friends. The Sun Valley Summer Symphony started small in 1985, with 22 musicians, but has grown into one of the finest orchestral festivals in the country, with over 100 musicians performing a vast repertoire over the last week of July and the first two-and-a-half weeks of August. We perform 3-4 concerts per week, with a unique schedule: one afternoon rehearsal followed by the evening concert at 6:30 PM. Everyone has to be well-prepared and on their toes! Fortunately it's a wonderful assemblage of musicians from the best American orchestras. It's a great ensemble, conducted by Alasdair Neale, who does a fantastic job managing all of this with such limited rehearsal time.