Soka Gakkai Orchestras Win Gold Medals at All-Japan Band Competition

On October 18, 2009, two Soka Gakkai Brass Band music groups entered the "Company and Community Bands" section at the 57th All-Japan Band Competition, held at the Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya, Japan.

The Soka Gakkai Kansai Wind Orchestra from the Kansai region won a gold medal for the twelfth time, while the Soka Gloria Wind Orchestra from Tokyo won gold for the sixth time. This is the second time that two Soka Gakkai Brass Band groups both won first place and became national champions.

The pieces performed by the bands included Ottorino Respighi's "Feste Romane" (Roman Festivals) by the Soka Gloria Wind Orchestra and the Soka Gakkai Kansai Wind Orchestra's performance of Franz Liszt's "Fantasy and Fugue on the Name of Bach."

The All-Japan Band Competition is sponsored by the All-Japan Band Association and Asahi Shimbun Company and is considered Japan's top competition for amateur brass bands.

[Adapted from an article in the October 19, 2009, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan; photo courtesy of Seikyo Shimbun]