劇場、音楽堂等連絡協議会(劇音協)とは
劇場法の主旨に則り、自主事業や人材養成、共同制作、助成制度などについて、情報共有や連携の推進を進めていく日本各地の劇場・音楽堂等の約50館の集まりです。
‘The Liaison Council of Theaters and Halls in Japan’ and the Structure of Public Theaters and Music Halls in Japan:
Throughout Japan, there are over two thousand public theatres and concert halls built by prefectural and local municipal governments, but only few of these facilities produce original performances and workshops on their own.
‘The Liaison Council of Theaters and Halls in Japan’ is a network organization of approximately forty public theatres and music halls throughout Japan offering various projects from original performances, programs reaching out to their local community and developing programs to foster the next generation of professionals in theatrical arts.
Each facility differs in size and operates individually to meet their regional characteristics and therefore not all facilities are able to produce or co-produce international performances, but facilities which do engage in international activities, are also part of our network organization.
In general, facilities plan their own performance program. Production staff will propose ideas they gathered through their network of artists and theatrical companies or through other theaters that will meet the nature of their facility and or carry a theme close to their regional characteristics or challenges.
Budgets for these projects are composed of facility’s own expense, ticket sales and public funds.
Because Japanese financial year begins in April and ends next March, planning for the following year begins around the summer and by autumn the budgets are forecasted. Along with the budget, public fund applications for the following year are also submitted in autumn including the Cultural Affaires Agency and Japan Foundation - keep in mind, the larger the production, such as for international co-production projects, the budget approval process will begin much earlier than autumn.
With Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games ahead, wide variety of cultural programs are currently being explored. Many of our facilities will be offering various unique programs and we believe international projects will also be part of these programs.
Please contact us if you are interested to submit plans to any of our facilities.