Discover the Academy - Seiji Ozawa

History

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In 2004, Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa created in Switzerland an academy focused on the string quartet and string ensemble. He worked with Robert Mann, founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet, to lay the foundations of the program. Three tutors have been involved in the Academy since the beginning: Sadao Harada, Nobuko Imai and Pamela Frank. Seiji Ozawa entrusted its direction to the pianist Blanche d’Harcourt. The Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland has welcomed thirty young soloists every year since its inception. The first years were spent in residence at the Hindemith Foundation in Blonay, in 2007 it settled at Rolle castle, which his placed at his disposal by the municipality of Rolle.

Seiji Ozawa and Robert Mann

Principles

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For Seiji Ozawa, the string quartet repertoire is the basis of classical music. It is thus an essential learning for any young musician to become an artist of the highest calibre. The tutors objective is to get the musicians to listen more attentively so that they may find a common sound and the “same breath” as Seiji Ozawa calls it. For twelve days in Rolle, the quartets focus on two movements. This in‑depth study is a unique opportunity to excel. In the evening, they meet to play all together. In the beginning they were led by Seiji Ozawa himself, then in 2010 Kazuki Yamada took over the role of conductor.

More info on Seiji Ozawa

Auditions

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The Academy has a rigorous selection process. The selection process to enter the Academy is demanding. Blanche d’Harcourt is assisted by violinist Julien Szulman a former academician, heads the selection committee. This committee scouts out young talent in international competitions and major conservatoires. As the Academy is known throughout the music world, there are also spontaneous applications. Candidates attend a series of auditions in Paris, Berlin and Cologne during the winter preceding the Académie. The committee then deliberates. The young musicians must meet three criteria: have an excellent technical capability, show real musical sensitivity and possess the soft skills that will enable them human qualities that will enable them to work well in the quartets.

The 2024 edition will take place at the Château de Rolle from June 30 to July 13, 2024.

Apply for the 2024 auditions

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AUDITIONS DATES & PLACESSemi-finals:

28.01.24 : Paris, CNSM
06.02.24 : Berlin, Hanns Eisler Musik Hochschule

Finals:
Cologne, Hochschule fur Musik
18.02.24 : viola & cello
19.02.24 : violin

PROGRAM TO BE PREPARED

Violin (max. age 25 during the Academy)
One slow movement of Bach for solo instrument.
First and second movements of a Mozart concerto with cadenza.

Viola (max. age 27 during the Academy)
One slow movement of Bach for solo instrument.
First and second movements of Hoffmeister concerto with cadenza.

Cello (max. age 26 during the Academy)
One slow movement of Bach for solo instrument.
First and second movements of a Haydn concerto
(C Major or D Major) with cadenza.

How to register for the auditions

Download the registration form here, fill it in and return it by email to Julien Szulman – auditions@ozawa-academy.ch

This form is a first contact for registration. It does not serve as a confirmed registration. Fully fill in the document above, you’ll be contacted directly for the remaining registration steps.

Registration deadline: coming soon

The Tutors

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Seiji Ozawa has chosen top-level tutors. Recognized for their exceptional technical mastery and their teaching skills, virtuosos Sadao Harada, Nobuko Imai and Pamela Frank have been on board since the very first edition of the Academy. Kazuki Yamada, a young conductor whose career is taking off, joined the Academy in 2010. Violinists Suyoen Kim and Julien Szulman, two of the Academy’s most talented former students, have been assisting the tutors by teaching in their turn since 2021. The conductor, the tutors and the students form a family that works together, intensively, towards the same goal. Their working conditions are optimal, so that young people have the opportunity to excel and give the best of themselves.

SADAO HARADA
Sadao Harada, who studied under Hideo Saito and Robert Mann, helped to found the Tokyo String Quartet in 1969 and led it for 30 years. He is known for his exceptional technical mastery of the cello and for the dynamism of his interpretations as he performs all over the world. He has taught at Yale University (USA) and at the Trossing University of Music (Germany) and is a professor at Ueno Gakuen University (Japan).

NOBUKO IMAI
Nobuko Imai, like Seiji Ozawa and Sadao Harada, studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. This world-renowned violist is member of the Vermeer Quartet and founder of the Michelangelo Quartet and performs with leading artists and prestigious orchestras. She teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Kronberg International Academy and the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid.

PAMELA FRANK American violinist Pamela Frank was very young when her parents first introduced her to music. She now plays with the most famous musicians and orchestras. In 1999, she won the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, the ultimate award for an American instrumentalist. She is a professor at the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Verbier festivals. She is also artistic director of the “Evnin Rising Stars” at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.

KAZUKI YAMADA
Kazuki Yamada was born in 1979 in Japan and won the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors in 2009. He is Artistic and Musical Director of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and guest principal conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In Japan, he is guest principal conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, principal conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and musical director of the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus and the Yokohama Sinfonietta. He has been guest conductor of the Academy since 2010.

SENIOR MUSICIANS INVOLVED
Seiji Ozawa, the directors and the tutors choose the “Seniors” among former students. These experienced musicians are involved in the running of the Academy, a great promise for the future!

SUYOEN KIM
Suyoen Kim won first prize at the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hanover in 2006 and performs as soloist in Europe and Asia under renowned conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Christoph Eschenbach and Myung Whun Chung. She joined the Artemis Quartet from 2019 to 2021. Since 2021, she has been concertmaster of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. She plays on a Stradivarius “Lord Newlands, 1702” on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. Former student of the Academy, she has been since 2021, musical adviser and teacher.

JULIEN SZULMAN
Winner of the Geneva and Long-Thibaud competitions, Julien Szulman leads a rich and varied musical life. Guest concertmaster of major international orchestras (London Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Paris, etc.), he is a much-appreciated chamber musician and a sought-after teacher. Former student of the Academy since 2007. He is invited by Seiji Ozawa to teach at the Okushiga Academy in Japan since 2013. He has been a musical adviser and teacher at the Academy since 2021.

Social and educational mission

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Keen to raise awareness among young musicians to the need to give of themselves, deeply affected by the precarious situation in Geneva, and equally keen to support people who are hindered in heir lives or affected by illness, the Foundation Board has decided to expand in 2023 what it now calls its “social and educational mission”.

As a result:

Since 2007, the musicians of the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland have performed on a voluntary basis every year (outside the Covid period) at the Aigues-Vertes Foundation, offering a concert to its residents and their guests from other institutions.

Since 2019, around one hundred people supported by the Otium Foundation (cancer) have been invited to attend the concert at the Victoria Hall.

Since 2022, a partnership has been established with the “Hospice Général”, giving young migrants the opportunity to attend the master classes given in Rolle. People supported by the “Hospice Général”, are also invited to attend the concert at Victoria Hall.

Since 2022, invitations have been extended to people supported by the Healing Joy Association (support for the sick).

Since 2022, the Foundation Board has decided to donate all ticket sales to the “Fondation Partage”.

From 2023, visually impaired or blind people supported by the “Association pour le Bien des Aveugles” will be invited to concerts at the Victoria Hall.

We are currently in discussions with Studio Kodaly about inviting young musicians to attend master classes and concerts in Geneva and Rolle.

Contact has been made with the HEM in Geneva to organize a master class given by Sadao Harada (cello) in 2023 and to offer their students the opportunity to attend master classes and concerts in Geneva and Rolle.

How to support the Academy