The Philadelphia Orchestra Announces the Return of Celebrated Composer and Conductor Joe Hisaishi

(Philadelphia, August 19, 2025)—Following three sold-out performances in June 2025—praised in the Philadelphia Inquirer as “fully transporting,” and during which “the audience was in Hisaishi’s thrall”—The Philadelphia Orchestra is pleased to announce that famed composer and conductor Joe Hisaishi will return by popular demand for two performances of his works with the Orchestra on November 13 and 14 in Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The concerts will feature selections from Hisaishi’s Studio Ghibli film scores, Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky, paired with his symphonic work DA-MA-SHI-E and Britten’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell.  

Tickets will be available to the public on August 22 at philorch.org.  

Composer, conductor, and pianist Joe Hisaishi has established himself as a formidable force in contemporary music for his delicately crafted symphonic and solo works, as well as his globally successful film music. He is greatly in demand as a conductor performing with the most notable symphony orchestras across the globe. With nearly 40 solo albums and over 100 film scores to his name, he is one of the most celebrated composers of our time. The New York Times said, “​Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann, Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, Steven Spielberg and John Williams: Some of the greatest filmmakers have cultivated enduring mutually enriching relationships with musicians. The decades-long partnership between the Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and the composer, pianist and conductor Joe Hisaishi certainly belongs in this hall of fame.”  

Many of Hisaishi’s iconic works have been brought to huge live audiences in his recent sold-out performances at Madison Square Garden in New York, La Defense in Paris, and Olympic Hall in Munich. His recent works, demonstrating his contemporary style, include The East Land Symphony (Symphony No. 1) (2016), Asian Symphony (2017), The Border Concerto for 3 Horns and Orchestra (2020), Symphony No. 2 (2021), Metaphysica (Symphony No. 3) (2021), Viola Saga for Orchestra (2023), and Harp Concerto (2024). On August 8, 2025, Hisaishi released a Deutsche Grammophon recording of his work The End of the World and the Japanese premiere of Steve Reich’s The Desert Music, played by Future Orchestra Classics in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. 

In 2017, Hisaishi embarked on the world tour "Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert: The Music from Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki," which has traveled to Paris, Melbourne, San Jose, Los Angeles, New York, Prague, and other cities. The tour concluded in July 2025 with a final performance at Tokyo Dome, drawing a total of 130,000 fans across three shows. In July 2019, he launched the concert series "Future Orchestra Classics (FOC)," releasing "Beethoven: Complete Symphonies," which won a Special Award in the Japan category at the 57th Record Academy Awards. 

Hisaishi is the recipient of both the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, given by the government of Japan. He was appointed composer-in-association of the Royal Philharmonic in April 2024, and he is the music director of the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra from April 2025.