Seiji Ozawa

Seiji Ozawa was born to Japanese parents in Mukden (Shenyang), Japanese-occupied Manchuria, and moved to Japan after World War II. He studied at Tokyo's Toho Gakuen School of Music under Hideo Saito. In 1959, he won first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors in Besançon, France, catching the attention of Charles Munch, Herbert von Karajan, and Leonard Bernstein, who made Ozawa an assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic.

Ozawa was appointed music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973, holding the post until 2002—the longest tenure of any conductor in BSO history. He transformed the orchestra into an international powerhouse, touring the world, championing works by Messiaen, Takemitsu, and Mahler, and recording extensively. Ozawa served as music director of the Vienna State Opera from 2002 to 2010 and founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Japan, dedicating decades to nurturing young classical musicians at Tanglewood and the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy.