The Vienna Philharmonic mourns the loss of Seiji Ozawa

The Vienna Philharmonic mourns the loss of our honorary member Seiji Ozawa, one of the great conductors of our time. We look back with gratitude and love on many concerts and opera performances together, especially on our tours through Japan.

Our collaboration with Seiji Ozawa began in 1966 at the Salzburg Festival. Over five decades we performed an incredibly broad repertoire, ranging from the Baroque to the masters of Viennese Classicism and Romanticism to the modern era, with concerts and premieres by contemporary composers. A special highlight was the 2002 New Year's Concert in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, and as a sign of our close artistic and personal ties, we awarded him honorary membership of the orchestra in 2010. In our final concert together, he conducted the slow movement from Mozart's Divertimento KV 136 as part of the Japan tour in autumn 2021.

Professor Daniel Froschauer, Chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic: “We are happy to have experienced so many artistic highlights with Seiji Ozawa. It was a gift to be able to go on a long journey with this artist, who was characterized by the highest musical standards and at the same time humility towards the treasures of musical culture as well as his loving interaction with his colleagues and his charisma, which was also felt by the audience. He left a great artistic legacy with the Vienna Philharmonic. We will sorely miss Seiji Ozawa as a friend and musical partner. Our thoughts are with his family."