By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Paavo Jarvi rehearses with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Friday. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

When the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra leaves for Japan Monday on its first international tour with music director Paavo Jarvi, it will be selling much more than classical music. It will be selling itself - and Cincinnati.

"It is going to be very much a trip with a purpose," Jarvi said backstage at Music Hall last week. "I'm there to promote the orchestra, to be the representative and the salesman, as unglamorous as it may sound. It is very important that we make an impact."

It's a chance for added prestige and increased CD sales for an orchestra that's already highly acclaimed nationally. This trip could be the start of a high-profile international presence as well.

The orchestra also is Cincinnati's secret weapon - wooing Japanese business to the Queen City from half a world away.

Jarvi and 103 musicians - plus staff, stage crew and assistant conductor Sarah Ioannides - are gearing up for a seven-city, eight-concert tour over 10 days. It's a grueling schedule that will take them from the northern island of Hokkaido, to the southernmost island of Kyushu. The orchestra will perform twice in Tokyo - a metropolis of 12 million - with "run-outs" to Yokohama and Mito.

Every movement will be tightly orchestrated, from performing concerts booked by Japan Arts, one of Japan's two major concert presenters, to seminars and CD signings for business moguls who are interested in conducting business in the Tristate.

"We want to promote Cincinnati as a town of arts, friendship and business, a place that people want to invest in," says Yumiko Tokiwa, assistant vice president and Asian desk manager for Fifth Third Bank.

As a sideshow to the symphony, she and representatives from the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a global professional services provider, will join the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce to hold seminars in Tokyo and Osaka. Officials from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana will be there to tout the region.

JANELLE IN JAPAN

Enquirer classical music writer Janelle Gelfand will be touring Japan with the CSO. Her stories will appear in the Enquirer beginning Nov. 10, and she will be writing a Web log for Cincinnati.com.

ITINERARY

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Japan tour performances and repertoire: Paavo Jarvi, conductor; Akiko Suwanai, violin, and Yundi Li, piano Nov. 6: Sapporo Concert Hall, "Kitara" Nov. 7: Mito, Ibaraki Prefectural Concert Hall Nov. 8: Yokohama Minato Mirai Concert Hall Nov. 9: Tokyo, Suntory Hall Nov. 11: Kitakyushu (near Fukuoka), Kyushu Kosei Nenkin Hall. Also: Open rehearsal with students in afternoon Nov. 13: Tokyo, Metropolitan Art Space Nov. 14: Osaka, The Symphony Hall Nov. 15: Yamagata Prefectural Concert Hall The music: Tour programs will feature music from Jarvi's first three albums with the orchestra: Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique; Sibelius' Symphony No. 2; and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Programs also include Sibelius' Finlandia; Ravel's La Valse; Charles Coleman's Streetscape; Brahms' Violin Concerto (Akiko Suwanai) and Grieg's Piano Concerto (Yundi Li).

JAPANESE WEB SITE

Because of the increasing number of Japanese coming to the Tristate, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce has developed a Japanese-language home page - "one of our more frequently visited pages," says the chamber's Neil Hensley. The chamber touts the region to Japanese seven ways: Central location and access (airport and freeways). Productive work force. Presence of other large corporations, such as Procter & Gamble. Quality of life and cultural assets. Education, including a Japanese Saturday School for children. Japanese grocery stores, restaurants and other amenities. Professionals who have experience dealing with Japan. For more, visit www.cincinnatiusa.org.

"Japanese really value culture," Tokiwa says. "We thought it was a great combination to do a seminar, and take some of our customers to the symphony, to actually see that."

Dennis Cuneo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, North America, which is sponsoring the tour with a $50,000 donation, agrees that the Japanese are big fans of classical music. When Toyota was seeking a site for its North America headquarters in 1996, the symphony was "one of those quality-of-life attributes" that made Erlanger attractive, he says.

"The orchestra is a tremendous selling point for business, tourism and economic development," says Cuneo, by phone from Okinawa. "To sponsor this tour to Japan we think will be good for Cincinnati, and for the image of the area."

And image is everything to those trying to sell the region to investors. Many arts and business leaders would like to see a world-class orchestra define Cincinnati, rather than the 2001 riots, Mapplethorpe or Marge Schott's mouth.

The symphony ranked high in a recent survey of Japanese companies in the region. "That was the first time I have ever heard a specific cultural institution mentioned," says Neil Hensley, the chamber's economic development director.

More than 80 Japanese companies do business in the Tristate, a number that is steadily growing. Toyota and Honda have major production facilities in Kentucky and Ohio. Fujitec makes high-speed elevators and escalators in Lebanon. In all, 500 Japanese manufacturers employ more than 100,000 people in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

For the occasion, Universal, one of the world's largest record distributors, is packaging Jarvi's four Cincinnati Symphony recordings with CD booklets translated into Japanese. Jarvi will sign CDs and greet fans after concerts in Yokohama and Tokyo.

The orchestra's strong track record with Telarc - more than 10 million Cincinnati Pops and symphony albums have been sold worldwide since 1979 - helped secure the invitation to play in Japan, a big market for CDs.

Just as rock stars tour to promote their albums, touring helps orchestras' CD sales, says Bob Woods, president of Cleveland-based Telarc.

The combination of the orchestra's playing - the highest level in Woods' 24-year relationship, he says - and Jarvi, whose international star is rising, is impressive, even in today's sagging CD market.

"It will be an interesting opportunity, because the major orchestras are doing nothing in the way of recording," Woods says. "The international press for Paavo has been excellent, and all orchestras care about their worldwide reputations."

Jarvi describes Japanese music fans as enthusiastic and respectful, in a country where culture is prized. They'll pay up to $160 a seat to attend the Cincinnati concerts.

"In the Japanese character, there is a deep respect for arts and for something that is spiritual and touches the soul," he says. "I think it's the only country left that has a true fanatical love for classical music."

The musicians' challenge, he says, will be to remain in top form, playing through fatigue.

"To be in top form - that's hard, if you're in a very grueling schedule," Jarvi says. "It needs to be an inspiring concert, that brings you a little bit further than you were yesterday."

But mainly, his goal is to get Cincinnati's name out there.

"I would love for Cincinnati to be known as the city that is home of the Cincinnati Symphony, if for nothing else. There is no better PR," he says.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com