Lessons and Concerts by World-Class Performers: The 32nd Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy & Festival - Academy Outline Finalized, Applications for Students and Auditors Now Open

The city of Hamamatsu, in co-sponsorship with the Hamamatsu Cultural Promotion Foundation, Yamaha Corporation, and the Yamaha Music Foundation, will hold the "32nd Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy & Festival" for six days from Monday, August 3rd to Saturday, August 8th, at venues including Act City Hamamatsu.

The lesson outline for the "Academy" portion of this event has been finalized, and we are now accepting applications for students and auditors. Tickets for the "Festival" concerts will go on sale in mid-May.

"Performer Course" and "Middle/High School Student Course" Taught by World-Class Instructors

The "Wind Instrument Academy" is a unique and historic event specializing in wind instruments, which began in 1995. It provides a privileged environment where students in all classes receive highly musical lessons with piano accompaniment, and auditors are free to observe them. It also contributes to the development of new talent in "Hamamatsu, the City of Music." Recently, at the "40th Japan Wind and Percussion Competition 2025," Akira Nakatsugawa, a native of Hamamatsu and a student of the 31st Wind Instrument Academy (a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts), was a prize winner in the saxophone category.

This year, the Academy will accept a total of 148 participants, consisting of 48 students and 100 auditors. To discover and nurture promising performers by providing high-level education, the courses have been organized into a "Performer Course" (6 classes of 7 students each) for university students, vocational students, and professional players, and a "Middle/High School Student Course" (6 classes of 1 student each). The faculty will include Nobuya Sugawa, an internationally renowned saxophonist from Hamamatsu who has been involved since the first event, and five foreign professors who are active on the world's stage. The lineup includes musicians who are very popular in Japan, such as Michel Moragues, second soloist of the Orchestre National de France, who will teach flute, and Sérgio Carolino, principal of the Porto Symphony Orchestra, who will teach tuba.

The event is centered in the area around Act City Hamamatsu, a complex that includes a concert hall adjacent to the highly convenient JR Hamamatsu Station. One of its distinctive features is that many professional wind instrument players who are now active in Japan and internationally participated during their student years; the total number of participants since its inception has exceeded 3,500.

The "Festival" will feature an "Opening Concert" and other exclusive, exquisite concerts

In contrast to the lesson-focused "Academy," the "Festival" will feature multiple concerts. The "Opening Concert" will be a captivating performance by the Academy's faculty, unique to this festival. Additionally, a premium concert featuring selected students will be held during the Academy period.

The details for the "32nd Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy & Festival" are as follows.

Event Outline

Name

"32nd Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy & Festival"

Venue

Act City Hamamatsu (111-1 Itaya-machi, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu) and others

Purpose

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