Celebrated Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Announces Orchestra Tour of China

NEW YORK - Acclaimed ensemble embark on orchestra tour of China this spring

The world-renowned conductor, Seiji Ozawa, is taking his prestigious
Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku on an orchestra tour of China this April. Now in its
10th year, the Ongaku-juku is comprised of Japan and China’s most promising
student musicians who are given the unique opportunity to perform and learn
with world-class professionals. Since its inception, the Ongaku-juku’s
concerts have been a highlight of the classical music calendar, playing to
critical acclaim across Japan. Born in China, Seiji Ozawa has a strong
artistic connection to the country of his birth, where he frequently returns
for prestigious conducting engagements. The Ongaku-juku China tour will
launch on April 13 at the Tianjin Grand Theatre, Tianjin, and continue on to
the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing on April 15 and the
Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai on April 17. The repertoire will include
Beethoven: Symphony 7 and Maurice Ravel: Ma Mere L’Oye. The tour will also
feature two performances in Japan.

In 2000, Seiji Ozawa founded the Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku (”music
academy”) with the goal of nurturing young musicians through a concentrated
period of music study, particularly in opera. The students, aged between
their late teens and early twenties, gain the unparalleled experience of
immersive training. This training reflects the real practice of playing in a
professional orchestra with the added benefit of receiving excellent coaching
from Seiji Ozawa and the project’s renowned instrumentalists. Opera is the
main focus of their work but aside from this year’s orchestra project, they
also performed Mahler: Symphony 2 in 2006. The ensemble’s numerous opera
productions have received popular attention from audiences and critics for
the superlative training of the young musicians. This year’s opera project
will take place from July 20-August 1, when the group will perform
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel in Japan.

Seiji Ozawa is currently the music director of the Vienna State Opera, a
position he has held since 2002. His other historic residencies include the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Boston
Symphony (where he was music director for 29 years) and the Vienna
Philharmonic. In 1992, Seiji Ozawa founded the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto
as a tribute to his teacher and mentor, the late Hideo Saito. The festival
grew naturally from the success of the Saito Kinen Orchestra (SKO), which he
founded on the 10th Anniversary of Hideo Saito’s death in 1984. Ozawa
continues to tour internationally with the Saito Kinen Orchestra, as well as
regularly conducting the New Japan Philharmonic and major European
orchestras. Ozawa has founded other teaching institutions, including the
Swiss Academy and the Saito Kinen Chamber Music Study Group for Young People,
with the aim of fostering classical music training around the world.

For more information, please contact:
Pamela Murphy, pamela@aligneg.com
+1-646-596-8700

Source: Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku

Pamela Murphy, +1-646-596-8700, pamela at aligneg.com