Pinocchio Concert

What is the Pinocchio Concert

Free Concerts for Children began in the first Beppu Argerich Music Festival in 1998 under the concept of “Fostering” advocated by Martha Argerich and Kyoko Ito.
At the establishment of Argerich Arts Foundation in March 2007, the “Tadpole Fund” that was set up in 2000 to invite children to quality concerts and Free Concerts for Children were integrated to Pinocchio Concerts for both adults and children.

The name was given based on the fairy tale of Pinocchio who learns conscience and grows to be a person with rich spirit knowing what is right and what is wrong nurtured by Jiminy Cricket and others. So far, approximately 32,000 people have attended about 87 of these concerts.

The concerts aim for adults to give thought to creating a good environment for children to develop their minds through classical music, one of our common social assets. The concerts consist of musical performances and talks which help children develop their imagination and spirits, and also help adults think of how they can create a spiritually-rich and peaceful society.

Different from ordinary classical music concerts, Argerich and other top-rated musicians (Argerich’s Friends) who sympathize with Argerich’s thoughts and the concept of Pinocchio Concerts talk about their own experiences in addition to music directly to the audience aiming to foster children’s minds. This educational program is held at schools, museums, shrines, and many other sites.

Activities
1) Concerts at schools, national institutes, shrines, etc.
2) Providing free seats at quality classical music concerts
3) Holding concerts free of charge or with admission fees as low as possible