Japanese musicians give earthquake benefit concert

The Sapporo Symphony Orchestra had already scheduled a London appearance as part of its 50th-anniversary tour when the Japanese earthquake and tsunami struck. Now all proceeds from the Royal Festival Hall concert on 23 May will go directly to the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Japan Society Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund.

Sapporo’s long-serving principal conductor Tadaaki Otaka, whom audiences here will know from his fine concerts and recordings with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, said: "It was an unforeseen and terrible disaster, from which all Japanese people are working extremely hard to recover. We, the musicians, wish to turn our London appearance into a charity concert in aid of the vital relief efforts in our country. Please join us and help Japan."

General Manager Toshio Miyazawa added: "We appeal to music lovers to support us in this; with deepest gratitude for their generosity, we will perform our very best." The programme mixes lamentation and fortitude with Takemitsu’s How Slow the Wind, Bruch’s First Violin Concerto with violinist Akiko Suwanai and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.

Watch Otaka conduct a Japanese orchestra in the catastrophic scherzo of Elgar's Second Symphony

• Details of the Sapporo orchestra's Festival Hall concert on the Southbank Centre's website
• See what's on at the Southbank Centre