Seiji Ozawa, Music: History, Composers, And Performers, Biographies

Related Category: Music: History, Composers, And Performers, Biographies

Seiji Ozawa[sA´jE OzA´wA] Pronunciation Key, 1935–, Japanese conductor, b. Manchuria. A graduate of the Toho School of Music, Ozawa won competitions in Europe and the United States and was hired (1961) by the New York Philharmonic as an assistant conductor. He was director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1965–70) and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (1970–73) before he served as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for almost thirty years, from 1973 to 2002. In 2002, he left Boston to become director of the Vienna State Opera. Ozawa was the first Japanese conductor to gain recognition in the West. Interested in performing unfamiliar works, he is noted for the breadth of his repertoire and the clarity, sensitivity, and precision of his technique.

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