Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & Representative Director: Shingo Kaneko) will hold its 11th Charity Concert on Friday June 1, 2018.
Toppan Charity Concerts have been held every year since 2008 as part of Toppan Printing's activities to contribute to society. The concerts support the enhancement of literacy, an issue faced by international society.
The concert this year will feature elegant European chamber music performed by Karl-Heinz Schütz, one of the world's leading flautists, and Sarah Christ, an outstanding harp soloist who was one of the youngest people to join the Wiener Staatsoper.
All of the proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) and used to fund activities backed by the ACCU to support literacy education.

Overview of 11th Charity Concert

Efforts to enhance literacy in developing nations through the Toppan Charity Concerts

©ACCU

Since its founding in 1900, Toppan Printing has aimed to become a "mainstay of information and culture" through a wide range of printing-based businesses, as advocated in its Corporate Philosophy. It has contributed to the development of culture, the arts, and the printing industry as a whole. The company has engaged in various activities to contribute to society and culture, centered on Toppan Hall, a classical music venue, and the Printing Museum, Tokyo, which were established in 2000 when the company marked its 100th anniversary.
Toppan Printing declared its support for and participation in the United Nations Global Compact in September 2006. Recognizing the importance of activities to contribute to society from a more global perspective, the company has held Toppan Charity Concerts every year since 2008. With the aim of assisting with raising the level of literacy among women in developing countries, in particular pregnant women and women raising young children, proceeds from the concerts have been donated to help fund the activities of the SMILE Asia Project undertaken by the ACCU in Cambodia. The project supports enhancement of quality of life through a curriculum covering literacy as well as health, hygiene, and life skills for mothers and children.

©ACCU

Feedback from participants in literacy classes

37-year-old mother of five:
　"I had never been to school, so I took part in the literacy classes to learn how to read, write, and do math. In the past, when I went to sell harvested food at the market, people would often trick me into selling things cheaply or giving the wrong change, but now I can do the calculations, I don't lose out anymore."

35-year-old mother of three:
　"Before attending the literacy classes I couldn't read road signs, and leaving the village scared me. I have even been given the wrong directions to my destination in the past. Now I don't use raw water, I wash my hands with soap before preparing food or feeding my baby, and members of my family don't contract severe illnesses."

Artist profile

Karl-Heinz Schütz (flute)
Karl-Heinz Schütz was born in Innsbruck and studied at the Landeskonservatorium in Vorarlberg and Conservatoire national supérieur de musique in Lyon. He won first prizes at the Carl Nielsen International Music Competition in 1998 and the International Flute Competition Kraków in 1999. Having played as Solo Flute of the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and the Wiener Symphoniker, he became Solo Flute of the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Wiener Staatsoper in 2011. Since 2013, he has also been a member of the Ensemble Wien-Berlin and the Wiener Ring Ensemble.

Sarah Christ (harp)
Sarah Christ started playing the harp at the age of ten and made her debut with the Berliner Symphoniker when she was 13. In 2002, at the age of 21, she performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Wiener Philharmoniker, and then joined the Wiener Staatsoper as one of its youngest members at the time. She left the Wiener Staatsoper two years later in pursuit of opportunities to perform chamber music and as a soloist. She has since performed with, among others, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, and also performed at the Edinburgh Festival and the Luzern Festival.