Photo/Illutration Seiji Ozawa conducts the Saito Kinen Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2010. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The world of classical music was in mourning following the passing of one of its leading lights.

Trailblazing conductor Seiji Ozawa died of heart failure in Japan on Feb. 6 aged 88.

With a career that stretched decades, Ozawa was at the forefront of classical music in postwar Japan. Aside from his prodigious talent, Ozawa’s affable personality won him many fans the world over.

After graduating from Toho Gakuen School of Music, Ozawa carved out a career by traveling to Europe.

In 1959, he became the first Japanese to win the International Besancon Competition for Young Conductors in France. He studied under Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, two of the greatest conductors in the 20th century.

“Without Ozawa, we would not have been able to perform on the world stage,” said Kazuki Yamada, who became chief conductor and artistic adviser of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in April 2023. “He blazed a trail in a territory where no Japanese had ever ventured and continued to fight to the end.”

Ozawa helmed the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years from 1973 and became the first Japanese to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at its celebrated New Year concert in 2002.

The Vienna Philharmonic, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said it “mourns the loss of our honorary member Seiji Ozawa.”

The post quotes Daniel Froschauer, a board member of the Vienna Philharmonic, as saying: “He left a great artistic legacy with the Vienna Philharmonic. We will closely miss Seiji Ozawa as a friend and musical partner.”

Ozawa devoted much of his energy to educating young musicians in Japan.

He served as general director of the Mito Chamber Orchestra and offered lessons in wind instrument music to children.

The orchestra belongs to the Art Tower Mito, an art and cultural complex in Mito, the Ibaraki prefectural capital.

Ozawa also took the Saito Kinen Orchestra, which he founded in 1987, on tours to Europe and the United States.

He served as director of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, one of Japan’s best-known music carnivals, held in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, which started in 1992 as the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto.

Cellist Dai Miyata, who performed under Ozawa’s tutelage at the Mito Chamber Orchestra and Saito Kinen Orchestra, said Ozawa acted as a catalyst for “the biggest change in my life.”

“He repeatedly demanded a better performance in concertos. He told me to dedicate myself to music. He taught me to love music with all my soul, become more inextricably tied to it and try for all I am worth,” he said.

“Ozawa was the person that I want to listen to my sounds and appreciate my growth.”

Tributes came in from outside the music world as well.

Veteran actress Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, who knew Ozawa through her violinist father, said Ozawa was a free thinker.

“His thought process, as well as his conversations, was interesting, and his music was exceptionally passionate,” she said. “He was a personable, friendly and unpretentious person.”

Artist Tadanori Yokoo, who lived nearby, described Ozawa as someone with the common touch.

“We never talked about complicated business matters,” he said. “I chanced upon him at a soba restaurant. He was natural and open even though he was a world-class conductor.”

Architect Tadao Ando, who knew Ozawa for 20 years, said his friend was one of a kind.

“Japan has earned credibility not only through its economy but also through the power of art, culture and music. Ozawa, who always challenged new things in the world of music, was a symbol of such credibility,” he said.

“His personality, as well as his music, attracted people. Today, people with that kind of charm are few and far between even around the world. I wish he had been able to be with us for a little longer.”  

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