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| 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 BeasanŠon, France,
and was invited to Tanglewood by Charles Munch,then Music
Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and judge at the
competition. In 1960 Mr.Ozawa won the Tanglewood Music Center's
highest honor, the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student
conductor. |
Photo by Shintaro Shiratori |
While a student of Herbert von Karajan in West Berlin, Mr.Ozawa
come to the attention of Leonard Bernstein. He accompanied Mr.Bernstein
on the New York Philharmonic's 1961 Japan tour and was appointed
assistant conductor of that orchestra for the 1961-62 season.
In January 1962, he made his first professional concert appearance
in North America conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
He was Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Ravinia
Festival for five summers beginning in 1964. Ozawa also took the
post of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for four
seasons, relinquishing these two positions at the end of the 1968-69
season .
Mr.Ozawa was Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony from
1970 to 1976, followed by a year as that orchestra's Music Adviser.
He first conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall
in January, 1968. From 1970 he was designated Artistic Director
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood Festival for four
summers. Following a year as the Music Adviser of the orchestra,
Seiji Ozawa was named the 13th Music Director of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra in 1973.
With the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mr.Ozawa had concerts in Europe
(1976), Japan (1978), and throughout the United Stat0es, strengthening
the orchestra's international reputation. In March 1979, he and
the Orchestra made a historic visit to China, becoming the first
American performing ensemble to visit China since the establishment
of diplomatic relations. In 1981, the Orchestra celebrated their
lOOth anniversary with a tour of 14 cities throughout the U.S.
That same year, they embarked on a world tour including, among
other countries : Japan, France, Germany, Austria and England.
Their European tours in 1984, 1988, and 1991, and their Japan
tours in 1986 and 1989 were all major successes.
Mr.Ozawa maintains an active international career, apprearing
regularly with many orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic
and the Vienna Philharmonic. His operatic credits include several
appearances receiving great response at Salzburg, La Scala in
Milan, and the Paris Opera, where in 1983 he conducted a sensational
world premiere of Olivier Messraen's "St.Francis of Assisi."
In Japan, Mr.Ozawa has been performing regularly with the New
Japan Philharmonic, with which he has had a close relationship
since the time of its foundation. In the fall of 1991, he was
appointed as its Honorary Artistic Director. He is also active
in oper'a performances in Japan, especially conducting for the
"Hennessy Opera Series" which began in 1989. Inviting
first class international singers and directors, the series has
already presented eight opera productions receiving much public
attention and critical acclaim. The Saito Kinen Orchestra, in
commemoration of the late music educator Professor Hideo Saito,
was formed under the initiative of Mr. Seiji Ozawa and his fellow
conductor Mr.Kazuyoshi Akiyama in 1984. Making a spectacular debut
in Tokyo and Osaka that year, they have since toured Europe in
1987, 1989, 1990, and 1994, and also made a tour of Europe and
the U.S. in 1991, receiving the highest praise at every venue.
Photo by Shintaro Shiratori |
In 1992, the orchestra took one step further
- it has become the center figure of Mr.Ozawa's artistic
dream, the first international festival in Japan: the Saito
Kinen Festival Matsumoto. The ten-day festival received
much attention not only in Japan but all around the world.
As an active recording artist, Mr.Ozawa has a distinguished
list of recorded performances to his credit consisting of
more than 50 recordings released mostly by Philips and Deutsche
Grammophon. |
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