(Image via wgbh.org)
Staff Writer: Connor Sullivan
Email: csullivan14@umassd.edu
Legendary Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa died from heart failure in his Tokyo home on February 6th. His death followed years of battling health complications, including esophageal cancer, chronic back pain, and heart valve disease.
Ozawa was the first Japanese conductor to be widely recognized in the West. He is best known for his 29-year tenure as the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Music Director, the longest in the orchestra’s history.
Ozawa also served as music director for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during their summer performances at the Ravinia Festival.
“Today’s a tough day for those of us who love this orchestra, but more — it’s a tough day for all of us who love music.”
Said Chad Smith, President and CEO of the BSO, at a tribute performance for Ozawa on February 9th.
For decades, Ozawa gave performances with a distinct and prominent energy. Often conducting from memory with only his hands, many writers have described him as having an electric stage presence that added to his appeal.
“With his mop of black hair, his boyish demeanor and his seemingly boundless energy, he captured the popular imagination early on,” said The New York Times.
Born in the city of Mukden, now known as Shenyang, in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, he would spend many of his formative years in China before moving to Japan with his family.
Classical music critic Anne Midgette described how “Having spent part of his childhood in China,” Ozawa knew “what it felt like to start Japanese school as a quasi-foreigner — ‘I was half Chinese and half Japanese, my language,’ he says.”
He began studying the art of conducting in high school and found work with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra before graduating. Ozawa traveled to Europe after graduating in 1957 to continue his studies. Soon afterward, he would find acclaim and recognition from prominent figures and institutions across the classical music world.
Ozawa received tutelage from world-famous conductors such as Charles Munch, Pierre Monteux, and Herbert von Karajan. He was also recognized by Leonard Bernstein, “one of the most prodigally talented and successful musicians in American history,” who would go on to appoint him as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ozawa had always found himself between the bounds of different cultures and, over his career, helped to bring them together.
According to The Metropolitan Opera, his influence was successful in “both increasing the popularity of Western classical music in Japan…and raising the profile of Japanese and Asian musicians in the West.”
He also helped to ease tensions between America and China in 1979 by leading the BSO on the first American orchestral tour across the nation.
According to WCRB:
“The tour played a role in sparking an interest among Chinese audiences in Western orchestral music, a phenomenon that has grown exponentially over the subsequent decades to make China a critical part of the classical music ecology.”
Ozawa felt like an American and deeply admired the nation that started in his youth, particularly for its sports. He was passionate about sports from childhood, where he played rugby and baseball, and became an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots during his tenure with the BSO.
Ozawa left a profound impact on the BSO. After stepping down as director, Chronicle 5 reported, “Of the musicians playing today, 75% were appointed by Osawa. Under his watch both the look and the sound of the BSO has changed.”
Describing his work for the BSO, Ozawa said, “Beautiful orchestra like this…is like beautiful park. My job is to keep this park most beautiful, most proud, most symbol of our beautiful life in city. That is my work.”
Along with his work with the BSO, Ozawa was deeply invested in promoting musical education across the globe. Throughout his career, he founded the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy Okushiga, the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, and the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland.
Ozawa sought to inspire the next generation of musicians, especially those in Japan. As he told NPR, “Since I’m kind of a pioneer I must do my best before I die, so people younger than me think, ‘Oh, that is possible. I think it’s possible, I hope it’s possible.'”
Ozawa’s legacy highlights the beauty of music and its power to bring humans together, no matter where they’re from.