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Seiji Ozawa (born
September 1,
1935) is a
Japanese-born
conductor. He is particularly noted for his interpretations of
large-scale late
Romantic works.
He was born in Hoten (Shenyang),
Manchukuo. He studied at the
Toho School of Music in
Tokyo, graduating in 1959. He then went to Europe for further study.
He was taken to the
United States of America by
Charles Munch for lessons at the Berkshire Music Center (now the
Tanglewood Music Center). He won a scholarship to study with
Herbert von Karajan and the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1961 he was appointed an
assistant conductor of the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra by
Leonard Bernstein. He was
music director of the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1970, of the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1976, and of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1973 to 2002. He has been music
director of
Vienna State Opera since 2002.
Ozawa has also been an advocate of
20th century classical music, giving the premieres of a number of
works, including
Gyorgy Ligeti's
San Francisco Polyphony in 1975 and
Olivier Messiaen's opera
Saint Franηois d'Assise in 1983.
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