Star Japanese Conductor Seiji Ozawa Dies At 88

Tokyo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Feb, 2024) Charismatic Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, who led the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nearly 30 years and delighted audiences with his energetic style, died at his home in Tokyo aged 88, his management team announced on Friday.

Ozawa conquered the world of Western classical music, bringing an East Asian sensibility to his work with some of the world's most celebrated orchestras, from Chicago to Boston to Vienna.

"Conductor Seiji Ozawa passed away peacefully at his home on February 6th, 2024, at the age of 88," his management team said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

He died of heart failure and the funeral was attended by close relatives according to his wishes, the statement read.

Ozawa was born in 1935 in the Chinese province of Manchuria, then a Japanese colony, and started learning piano at elementary school.

But he broke two fingers as a teenager while playing rugby -- another passion -- and switched to conducting.

He moved abroad in 1959 and met some of the greatest luminaries of the classical music world, including the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, becoming his assistant at the New York Philharmonic in the 1961-1962 season.

Ozawa went on to lead orchestras in Chicago, Toronto and San Francisco.

He was the longest-serving conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) with a 29-year stint as musical director. A concert hall was named for him at Tanglewood, the group's summer home in western Massachusetts.

He left in 2002 to become chief conductor at the Vienna State Opera until 2010.