Toshi's Artistic Vision

Each symphony orchestra, large or small, needs to periodically go through a vision cycle which is vital to its survival in the present rapidly changing culture.

1. Clarifying the orchestra’s Goal, and Dream
2. Verifying the strength, value, asset, resource, and identifying threats and weaknesses.
3. Refining a particular vision
4. Strategizing concrete action to bring the artistic vision to life.

My artistic vision derives from three fundamental principles of music.

I Music must be an evidence of living.

Music is not an acquired culture, but an active part of natural life.
The communication between the musicians and the audience is unique only to the human.
The value of a live concert is infinite.
The composer is resurrected through the live performance.

II Music is the universal language of mankind

Music is the inarticulate speech of the heart, without words.
When the speech of man stops short, the art of music begins.
So-called “Classical” and “Popular” music should not be separated by a boundary.
Music should be available to everyone in the community.

III Music influences the community it exists within.

Music has a power to unite.
Music asks for harmonious cooperation of mind and soul as an artistic creation.
Music is the most social, the most affecting, the purest of the arts, and it is most
connected with the moral side of civilization, and it promotes the perfection of human
culture.

Based on these principals, Here is my artistic vision of a symphony orchestra:

1. Build the finest orchestra the community can support.
2. Perform for as many people in the community, through the diversity of musical
expression.
3. Create a sense of welcoming and belonging.
4. Enhance the enjoyment of life.
5. Adapt to the changing climate of the particular audience, and reinvent the product.
6. Work together within the constituents of the organization, and with the citizens.
7. Be the leader of the artistic community, and form partnerships.
8. Be financially responsible.
9. Celebrate the goodness of the community.

Toshiyuki Shimada
Music Director and Conductor