The Nippon Club’s annual holiday party was held in a hybrid format again this year, with an in-person event on Wednesday, December 14 at the Club Tower and a virtual event streamed online for three days from December 21 to 23.

The first half of the party was held at the gallery space on the 7th floor, where guests enjoyed a buffet dinner prepared by Executive Chef Yasuoka using a variety of sumptuous ingredients, including assorted nigiri sushi, assorted sashimi such as bluefin tuna, red bream, sea bream, scallops, sea urchin, and more, sirloin black wagyu enoki scallion rolls, lobster tail & shrimp in chili sauce, steamed abalone in sake, caviar & smoked salmon on the baguette.

Guests also enjoyed a live jazz quartet performed by MSM (Manhattan School of Music) musicians, and dessert in the salon space of the University of Tokyo’s New York office on the 21st floor.

The second half of the party was held in the Rose Room on the 2nd floor for entertainment. The master of ceremonies was Ms. Christina Maxwell and Mr. Masaaki Maeda, V.P. and Assistant Secretary of The Nippon Club. The event began with opening remarks by Mr. Tomonori Wada, President of the Nippon Club and President & CEO, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas.

The first entertainment was a harp performance by Ms. Mariko Anraku, the only Japanese member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The beautiful, delicate, and sometimes powerful tones of the harp filled the entire venue with a gentle and mellow atmosphere.

Harpist: Ms. Mariko Anraku (Metropolitan Opera/Faculty Member Manhattan School of Music)
Concert program:
Prelude and Toccata (G.F. Handel, arranged for harp by M. Grandjany)
Impromptu Op. 86 (G. Fauré)

The second entertainment was opera singing by Erika Baikoff, soprano singer, who has appeared this season at the Metropolitan Opera in Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” and piano performance by Michal Biel. She sang classic operatic songs and Christmas songs such as “O’ Holy Night” and “Silent Night” in her beautiful soprano voice.

Soprano Singer: Ms. Erika Baikoff (Metropolitan Opera)
Piano: Mr. Michal Biel (Metropolitan Opera)
Concert program:
Sul fil d’un soffio etesio (Falstaff, Verdi)
Ach ich fühl’s (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart)
Presentation of the rose (Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss)
Quando m’en vo (La Boheme, Puccini)
O luce di quest’anima (Linda di Chamounix, Donizetti)
O’ Holy Night
Silent Night

The last event of the night was a raffle drawing for several fantastic prizes provided by our sponsors. The early Christmas present was a great success, and the party came to an end, with all guests smiling.

We’d like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the member companies who sponsored this event. And thank you to our guests who participated in-person and virtually.

[Photo by Essel Photography]

＜Correction＞
In the Raffle, we introduced Mitsuwa as the donor of Mitsuwa gift certificates, but the correct donor was J One Corporation Mitsuwa Branch. We sincerely apologize for the error.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the event, please email us at info@nipponclub.org