In my wallet is a page from a Boston Symphony’s program from 33 years ago. It’s a memento from a family trip to Tanglewood Music Festival, six month before my family went back to Japan, leaving me behind to continue my studies at Juilliard. <\/h4>\n<\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/musicalmakiko.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Seiji-Ozawa-768x1024.jpg\")
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Maestro Seiji Ozawa, who signed the program for me that day in 1991, passed on last week, on February 6th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He left Kobe Japan in February of 1959, spending 53 days on a cargo ship to get to France. In September of that same year, he was to win the first prize at the 1959 International Competition of Orchestra Conductors<\/a> in Besan\u00e7on, France. He was then invited to Tanglewood Music Center, where he won the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor, winning the scholarship to study with Karajan. The rest was history. In short, he changed the course of the history in so many ways, especially for Asian musicians like myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\nA symphony orchestra is sometimes compared to the military, and conductors to the commanders. Just as commanders assessing the military strategy from afar in safety, conductor stands on a podium without an instrument, remaining silent throughout. The orchestra players, like the soldiers in the battle field, follow their conductors\/commanders only when they feel the utmost respect and absolute trust to the one in charge. Ozawa, still in his mid-twenties and from Japan, won that respect and trust from older white male players in some of the world’s most highly regarded orchestras. That is a feat that cannot be overstated. It’s probably unimaginable for us today when DEI is in such forefront. Seiji’s accomplishment was not only a testament to his own charisma, musicality and technique, but to the power of music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Maestro Seiji Ozawa, who signed the program for me that day in 1991, passed on last week, on February 6th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He left Kobe Japan in February of 1959, spending 53 days on a cargo ship to get to France. In September of that same year, he was to win the first prize at the 1959 International Competition of Orchestra Conductors<\/a> in Besan\u00e7on, France. He was then invited to Tanglewood Music Center, where he won the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor, winning the scholarship to study with Karajan. The rest was history. In short, he changed the course of the history in so many ways, especially for Asian musicians like myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A symphony orchestra is sometimes compared to the military, and conductors to the commanders. Just as commanders assessing the military strategy from afar in safety, conductor stands on a podium without an instrument, remaining silent throughout. The orchestra players, like the soldiers in the battle field, follow their conductors\/commanders only when they feel the utmost respect and absolute trust to the one in charge. Ozawa, still in his mid-twenties and from Japan, won that respect and trust from older white male players in some of the world’s most highly regarded orchestras. That is a feat that cannot be overstated. It’s probably unimaginable for us today when DEI is in such forefront. Seiji’s accomplishment was not only a testament to his own charisma, musicality and technique, but to the power of music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n