Seiji Ozawa
Thomas Moser
Christine Brewer
Michelle DeYoung
John Mark Ainsley
Franz Grundheber
Tokyo Opera Singers

Seiji Ozawa (Conductor)

Born in 1935 in Shenyang, China, to Japanese parents, Seiji Ozawa started piano lessons at an early age. After graduating from Seijo Junior High School in Tokyo, he studied conducting under the late Hideo Saito at Toho School of Music, graduating with first prizes in composition and conducting. In 1959 he won first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors held in Besancon, France, and was invited to Tanglewood by Charles Munch, then Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a judge at the competition. In 1960 Ozawa won the Tanglewood Music Center's highest honour, the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor. While a student of Herbert von Karajan in West Berlin, Ozawa came to the attention of Leonard Bernstein and was appointed Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic for the 1961-62 season. In 1964 he became Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Ravinia Festival, a position he held for five summers, and in the same year he took the post of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for four seasons. After his conducting experience with the Boston Symphony for four summers at the Tanglewood Festival, Ozawa conducted the Orchestra at Symphony Hall for the first time in January 1968. In 1970 he became Artistic Director of the Tanglewood Festival, and in December of the same year he took the post of Conductor and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. In 1973 he became the 13th Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He retired from his San Francisco post in the spring of 1976, but later in the 1976/77 season, was made Music Advisor of the San Francisco Symphony. Ozawa held his post as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years ,an incredibly long period in the history of American orchestras. Over those years the Orchestra's reputation rose considerably, not only within the United States but worldwide, making the Orchestra one of the top orchestras in the world. In autumn of 2002, Ozawa assumed the post of Music Director of the Vienna State Opera. Preceding this appointment, on 1st January 2002, Ozawa became the first Japanese conductor in history to appear on the podium for the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year Concert. This concert was broadcast in 65 countries, receiving acclaim from audiences around the world. The live recording was immediately released and achieved phenomenal sales, receiving a Platinum Disk Award in the Orchestra's home country of Austria, and a Classic of the Year Award at the 16th Nihon Gold Disk Award in Japan. Upon the Japan tour of the Vienna State Opera in October 2004, Ozawa conducted Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), which were both received with great acclaim. In 1978 Ozawa was officially invited by the Chinese government to work with a Chinese orchestra for a week. A year later, in March 1979, Ozawa visited China again, this time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to the orchestra performances, he facilitated important cultural and musical exchanges through discussions and teaching sessions with Chinese musicians. Ozawa also enjoys a great reputation and popularity in Europe; he regularly conducts orchestras there, including the Berlin Philharmonic, and with the Vienna Philharmonic has often led tours within Europe and to Japan. His operatic credits include several well-received appearances at La Scala, Milan, and l'Opera National de Paris, among others. In 1983 he conducted the world premiere of Olivier Messiaen's only opera, Saint Francois d'Assise, at l'Opera National de Paris, which was widely acclaimed. In 1984, Seiji Ozawa and Kazuyoshi Akiyama formed an orchestra to commemorate the late Japanese music educator, Hideo Saito. This orchestra, the Saito Kinen Orchestra, formally embarked on a path to greatness in 1987 and has since become legendary. In 1992, the orchestra became the focus of Ozawa's artistic dream to found Japan's first international music festival: the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto. The Festival, which has been held every September since it's commencement in 1992, has drawn the enthusiastic attention of the music world both at home and abroad. In 1998 Seiji Ozawa and the Saito Kinen Orchestra joined forces with l'Opera National de Paris to produce Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites at the Festival, and then mounted the same production at l'Opera National de Paris in November 1999. In the same year at the Festival, with director Robert Lepage, Berlioz's Opera, La Damnation de Faust was presented and highly praised. In December 1999 and January 2000, Ozawa conducted the Saito Kinen Orchestra in performances of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in Matsumoto and in Tokyo, receiving a resoundingly positive response brilliantly captured on a live audio recording which received the Japan Record Academy Award. In May 2004, Ozawa led the Saito Kinen Orchestra on a highly successful European Tour, performing in six cities throughout Europe (Valencia, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, and Milan). In 2004, Ozawa conducted Wozzeck (Berg), with Peter Mussbach as director and the architect Tadao Ando as set designer. The performance, which took place at the Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre, was sensational. Seiji Ozawa's achievements have earned him France's high honour Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (1998), an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University (2000), membership in the Academie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France (October 2001), and in November 2001, recognition from Japan for his outstanding cultural contributions to the country. He received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, from Austrian President Thomas Klestil (2002), the Mainichi Art Award and Suntory Music Prize (2003), and an Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University of France (March 2004). The year 2000 marked the beginning of "Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Opera Project," designed as an educational program for young musicians. The first five of its productions, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, J. Strauss II' s Die Fledermaus, and Puccini's La Boheme received popular attention from audiences and critics impressed by the progress shown by the young musicians. In addition to these projects, Seiji Ozawa continues to perform on a regular basis with the New Japan Philharmonic, an orchestra with which he has worked closely since its founding; and also with the Mito Chamber Orchestra as Advisor. Seiji Ozawa conducted two comic operas, L'heure espagnole (Ravel) and Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), in collaboration with l'Opera National de Paris in April 2003. The production, performed in Yokosuka, Kawaguchi and Tokyo, was very successful; it was also performed eight times from March to April 2004 at l'Opera National de Paris. In March 2005, he conduted R. Strauss's Electra and contributed to the successful launch of the Tokyo Opera Nomori as the Artistic Director.

Thomas Moser (Tenor)

Thomas Moser, who was born and raised in America, studied at the Richmond Professional Institute, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Academy of the West (University of California in Santa Barbara). He then completed his musical studies with Martial Singher, Gerard Souzay and Lotte Lehmann. He made his European operatic debut in Graz, Austria in 1975. In 1977, he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera, where he is now a member of the Company. His many roles in Vienna have included Tamino, Don Ottavio, Tito, Lucio Silla, Idomeneo, Achilles (Iphigenie en Aulide), Flamand (Capriccio), Henry (Die Schweigsame Frau), and in recent years Florestan (Fidelio), Fritz (Der Ferne Klang), Erik (Der Fliegende Hollander) and Lohengrin. In 1988 he was awarded the title of Viennese Kammersanger. He is now a regular guest artist at the Opera Houses of Munich, Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera, Geneva, San Francisco and Covent Garden. At the Paris Opera, he has sung Idomeneo, Tito, the Kaiser (Frau Ohne Schatten) and Pylade (Iphigenie en Tauride). He made his debut at La Scala, Milan in 1985 as Tamino, returning there in 1990 as Florestan under Maazel and in 1991 as Tizikan in Lodoiska under Muti. He is a regular guest at the Salzburg Easter and Summer Festivals, where he has sung Florestan, Oedipus Rex and the Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten under Solti. Recent operatic engagements also include Fliegende Hollander at the Opera Bastille, Fidelio at the Munich Opera and La Scala, Parsifal at the Vienna Staatsoper and Frau ohne Schatten at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Metropolitan Opera. In the 2002-2003 season, Mr Moser added the role of Tristan to his repertoire in a new production of this opera at the Vienna Staatsoper under the direction of Thielemann, which was recorded by D.G.G records. Future operatic appearances include new productions of Tristan & Isolde at the San Francisco Opera and Moses und Aron at the Wiener Staatsoper Thomas Moser is a highly acclaimed recitalist: he has given recitals in the Vienna Musikverein, the Chatelet, Paris and La Scala, Milan. His concert repertoire is vast, including the Bach Passions, the choral works of Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, Elgar, Britten, Franz Schmidt and Schonberg. With Sir Colin Davis, he has sung Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust and Romeo et Juliette in the Vienna Musikverein. He has sung Beethoven's Fidelio with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Barenboim. He has recorded recently La Damnation de Faust under Kent Nagano (Erato), Schonberg's Gurrelieder and Bizet's Carmen with G. Sinopoli (Teldec). His extensive concert and recording work has also included engagements conducted by Abbado, Giulini, Mehta, Solti, Maazel, Harnoncourt, Leinsdorf, Stein, Mackerras, Bernstein, Von Karajan and Thielemann.

Christine Brewer (Soprano)

American soprano Christine Brewer's appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked with her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty unique in her generation of vocalists. Ms. Brewer began the 2004-2005 season with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing Saariaho's Quatre Instants under the baton of Jukka-Pekka Saraste. She then travelled back to the United States for recitals in New York and Cleveland. In Los Angeles, she joined forces with the L.A. Philharmonic and Peter Sellars for a semi-staged version of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen to much critical acclaim. Other concert highlights this season include Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, and Strauss's Drei Hymnen with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Donald Runnicles. Later in the season, Ms. Brewer looks forward to reviving Britten's Gloriana in her hometown of St. Louis, returning to the Santa Fe Opera as Ellen Orford in a production of Peter Grimes, and to working with Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kiren Festival where she sings Gurrelieder. In concert and recordings, Ms. Brewer has appeared under the batons of Kurt Masur, Robert Shaw, Pierre Boulez, Michael Tilson Thomas, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, and Charles Dutoit. Ms. Brewer's repertoire encompasses the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Verdi, Strauss, Mahler, Janacek, and Britten and she regularly performs with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris. On the opera stage Ms. Brewer has been seen in a variety of roles, including the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Opera de Lyon, the Paris Chatelet, the Santa Fe Opera, English National Opera and her Metropolitan Opera debut under the baton of James Levine; and the title role in Die agyptische Helena at Santa Fe Opera. Her professional career began with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and her affiliation with that company includes appearances as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes; and in Haydn's Armida. She has performed her signature role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni to critical acclaim at Covent Garden, New York City Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and at the Edinburgh Festival, among others. Recent recordings include Barber's Vanessa with the BBC and Leonard Slatkin, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with Sir Simon Rattle and a disc of Strauss lieder with Roger Vignoles for Hyperion.

Michelle DeYoung (Mezzo Soprano)

Michelle DeYoung has already established herself as one of the most exciting artists of her generation In the past few seasons, Ms. DeYoung has been seen on the concert platforms of many of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, L.A. Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Puerto Rico Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris Bayerische Staatsoper Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The conductors with whom she has worked include Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Stephane Deneve, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Mariss Jansons, and Michael Tilson Thomas. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, Ms. DeYoung has since appeared as Dido in the Met's new production of Les Troyens, Venus in Tannhauser at the Houston Grand Opera, Brangaene in Tristan und Isolde at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Seattle Opera, the title role in Rape of Lucretia at the Glimmerglass Opera, Jocaste in Oedipus Rex and Gertrude in Hamlet at the Theatre du Chatelet, and Fricka in semi-staged performances of both Das Rheingold and Die Walkure at the Royal Albert Hall, London, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Concertgebouw and the Birmingham Symphony Hall. In recital, Ms. DeYoung has been presented by the San Francisco Symphony's “Great Performances Series”, Cal Performances in Berkeley, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Theatre du Chatelet, the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Edinburgh Festival, London's Wigmore Hall and Brussels's La Monnaie. Ms. DeYoung's most recent recording, Kindertotenlieder and Mahler Symphony No. 3 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony's own label, SFS Media was awarded the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. She has also been awarded the 2001 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording for Les Troyens (the role of Dido) with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra. Her growing discography also includes Bernstein's Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah” with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin for Chandos, Das Klagende Lied with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas for BMG, Mahler Symphony No 3 with the Cincinnati Symphony and Jesus Lopez Cobos for Telarc, and Das Lied von der Erde with the Minnesota Orchestra for Reference Recordings. Her first solo disc was released on the EMI label in spring 1999. This past summer Ms. DeYoung made her debut as Kundry in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival. This season she returns to the Metropolitan Opera for performances of Venus in Tannhauser and the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the Ring Cycle. Concert engagements include her debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, and returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

John Mark Ainsley (Tenor)

John Mark Ainsley was born in Cheshire, began his musical training in Oxford and continues to study with Diane Forlano. He made his American debut in 1990 with concerts in New York and Boston. In 1992 he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1993 he made his debut in the Vienna Musikverein, singing the St. Matthew and St. John Passions under Peter Schreier. His recent engagements include appearances with the Concert D'Astree under Haim, the London Philharmonic under Norrington, the London Symphony under Christophers, Sir Colin Davis, Rostropovich and Previn, Les Musiciens du Louvre under Minkowski, the Cleveland Orchestra under Welser-Moest, the Berlin Philharmonic under Kraemer, Haitink and Rattle, the New York Philharmonic under Masur, the Boston Symphony under Ozawa, the San Francisco Symphony under Tate and Norrington, the Vienna Philharmonic under Norrington, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Marriner and Langree, and both the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Orchestre de Paris under Giulini. His discography is extensive. For Philips Classics he has recorded Handel's Saul with Gardiner, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Davis, Stravinsky's Pulcinella with Haitink and Bach's Mass in B minor and the Evangelist in the St. Matthew Passion with Ozawa. For Decca his recordings include L'Enfance du Christ, Alexander's Feast, Acis and Galatea, the Berlioz Requiem and the title role in Monteverdi's Orfeo. For Hyperion he has made a series of recital records of Schubert, Mozart, Purcell, Grainger, Warlock and Quilter and his most recent recording of Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge with the Nash Ensemble was nominated for a Gramophone Award. His E.M.I. recordings include the Britten cycles Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Les Illuminations and Nocturne, Charlie in Brigadoon and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. For Deutsche Grammophon his recent releases include Handel's La Resurezzione, Rameau's Dardanus and Handel's Messiah with Minkowski, the Britten Spring Symphony with Gardiner and L'Heure Espagnole with Previn. On the operatic stage he has sung Don Ottavio at the Glyndebourne Festival under Sir Simon Rattle, directed by Deborah Warner, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival under Claudio Abbado, directed by Peter Brook. He has appeared with Opera Australia as Tito and Idomeneo; with the Netherlands Opera in the title role of Handel's Samson, with the San Francisco Opera as Don Ottavio and Jupiter in Semele and at the Munich Festival as Jonathan in Saul and Orfeo, for which he received the Munich Festival Prize. In 2002 he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Don Ottavio under Mackerras. At last year's Salzburg Festival, he created the role of Der Daemon in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's L'Upupa which he reprised at the Teatro Real, Madrid. He will return to Munich for performances of Saul and to sing the role of Oronte in Alcina. He sings the role of The Madwoman in Britten's Curlew River in Frankfurt, his first Pelleas for the Deutsche Oper, Berlin and will reprise the role of Der Daemon in the Salzburg production of L'Upupa in Genoa.

Franz Grundheber (Bass baritone)

In 1966, Rolf Liebermann engaged him to Hamburg State Opera to which he is still connected with a guest contract. In the Opera's repertoire of forthcoming seasons he will sing there Rigoletto, Jago, Germont, Scarpia, Flying Dutchman, Orest and Zar, and in 2006 he will interprete the title role of Simone Boccanegra in a new production under the baton of Simone Young. In Germany, where he often appears in guest performances at Bavarian State Opera Munich and Semperoper Dresden, he has also been engaged by Deutsche Oper Berlin for Barak, Flying Dutchman, Dr. Schon and Amonasro in 2005. In Dresden he will sing Barak and Amfortas and in Munich Orest and Moses. Contracts are running until 2007. The Vienna State Opera, where is the centre of his artistic activities since many years, as well as the Hamburg State Opera conferred on him the title of "Kammersanger". In Vienna he sang Wozzeck, Orest, Cardillac, Borromeo and recently Dr. Schon in new productions. In addition, out of his large repertoire from Rigoletto, Jago, Macbeth, Amonasro and Scarpia to Amfortas, Flying Dutchman, Kurwenal, Barak, Mandryka and Jochanaan. He is contracted at Vienna State Opera until 2007. At Salzburg Easter and Summer Festival he was most successful as Scarpia under Herbert von Karajan, as Jupiter in Die Liebe der Danae, Olivier, Orest, Amfortas and recently as Faninal. He will return to Salzburg also in 2005 and 2006. In Europe, Franz Grundheber has been performing his repertoire from Paris (Palais Garnier, Chatelet and Opera Bastille) to Barcelona, Madrid and Oviedo, Athens, Rome, La Scala and Arena di Verona (where he was the first German to sing Amonasro in Aida), Florence and Torino; furthermore in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Savonlinna and Moscow as well as in Brussels and Amsterdam. After his acclaimed appearances as Barak and Rigoletto at Covent Garden Opera London, he recently returned thereto as Simone Boccanegra with outstanding success. In November 2004, he sang The Flying Dutchman at Rome Opera. His guest appearances in the United States include the Metropolitan Opera (where he was the first German to sing ten times Rigoletto in 1999 und 2001, role which he sang there again in spring 2004), the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco and Los Angeles Opera. For his Simone Boccanegra in Santiago de Chile, he got the Chilean Critics' Award for International Opera 2001, and he returned thereto in 2004 to perform Scarpia. In season 2002/03, on his fifth tour to Japan, Franz Grundheber appeared as Amfortas in Parsifal in Tokyo. In March 2005, he was invited to sing Orest in Elektra at Tokyo Opera Nomori.

Tokyo Opera Singers

On the occasion of 1992 production of Der fliegunde Hollander directed by Yukio Ninagawa, conductor Seiji Ozawa requested a “world-class chorus”. And that is how the Tokyo Opera Singers came to be formed by the vocalists who are mainly based in Tokyo, and at the beginning or in the middle of their musical careers. This chorus ensemble in this production attained an enormous success, and received praises from all venues. "Hearing such a high standard chorus perform was an overwhelming experience." (Shin-ichi Kamohara) The Tokyo Opera Singers went on to perform in Oedipus Rex at the first Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto, and the Japanese performance of the Der fliegunde Honllander by the Bayerische Staatsoper. Performing regularly since 1993, the Tokyo Opera Singers has performed at important occasions in the Japanese music scene including the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto, the Tokyo Philharmonic Opera Concertante Series, and the Biwa Lake Opera Productions. They have also performed with the Berlin Komische Opera (conducted by Valery Gergiev), St. Petersburg State Philharmonic, and Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in their Japanese appearances. The singers have also contributed to the vitalization of the music scene with their appearance as the chorus and soloists in the premiere of Su-sa-no-o by Dan Ikuma, at the 1st Kanagawa Art Festival. For the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the singers represented Japan and sang the chorale from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with other groups from six different countries. In 1999, they made their appearance at Edinburgh Music Festival (Turandot produced by Tokyu Bunakmura), one of the major festivals in Europe. For two consecutive years, 2000 and 2001, they collaborated with the Vienna Philharmonic (conductors Seiji Ozawa and Sir Simon Rattle), by whom they have been highly praised. The Tokyo Opera Singers have performed at each of the Saito Kinen Festivals to date, every year successfully achieving solid musical results. “You gather a talented group of people, and you instantly have the best chorus in Japan, or in the world, like this one. The chorus was indeed magnificent.” (Katsuo Matsumoto on Oedipus Rex, from the first festival) “What was most dramatic was how the members of the Opera Singers moved around on the stage. Perhaps there was never a time in operatic performances in Japan when the chorus moved so freely, and at the same time providing meaningful acting and wonderful singing.” (Akio Jissouji on The Rake’s Progress, from the fourth festival) “I thought the chorus was exceptional in this concert. They did not show any signs of disarray as the long piece went on, and they actually achieved more beauty in their singing from around the Hosanna, where it becomes two-part singing.” (Shuji Horiuchi on Bach’s B-Minor Mass, from the ninth festival) “The chorus of villagers was filled with musical dynamism, practically serving as the main role. There was no separation between the chorus and the finely selected soloists, which made every chorus member seem like a soloist and every soloist a member of the chorus.” (Tadashi Isoyama on Peter Grimes, from the 11th festival) “As usual, the Tokyo Opera Singers were superb. Combined with the magnificently selected soloists, they sang the music to sublimity, filling the hall with a storm of passion.” (Yoshihisa Sasaki on Beethoven’ s Ninth Symphony, from the 11th festival) “The Tokyo Opera Singers were even better than before. I liked the scene where several men searched desperately from house to house. They really put on a show with great acting skills.” (Reiko Sekine on Falstaff, from the 12th festival) This unique ensemble is characterized first and foremost for their overwhelmingly rich vocal sonorities. Most of the members are also active as professional soloists outside of the group's activities, and the resulting purity and professionalism of the ensemble brings forth an exceptional sound. Secondly, the Tokyo Opera Singers is successful because its members can flexibly match the work to be sung, producing the most appropriate sonority. Members specialize in genres varying from Baroque to Romantic opera, or in contemporary music, and the singers would be selected appropriately for the work at hand in mind.