Seiji Ozawa conducts prizewinners from the 2016 Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland

The great Seiji Ozawa is not only one of the finest conductors of our time—he is also a devoted and passionate teacher. Since 2004, he has welcomed a handful of talented young musicians to the Seiji Ozawa International Academy of Switzerland to refine their craft in a cooperative but rigorous setting. Standouts from conservatories across Europe, these budding artists must pass through auditions before a selection committee, and then with the maestro himself, before attending the Academy. They are then carefully divided into quartets—the quintessence of music, for Ozawa—with consideration to style, temperament, and tone. 

At the end of their study at the Academy, the quartets demonstrate their progress in prestigious concert halls, like Geneva's Victoria Hall and Paris's Fondation Louis Vuitton—which is where we find the 2016 laureates in fine form in this impeccable recital! See them take on masterpieces of the chamber repertoire with assurance and aplomb, and then catch Maestro Ozawa leading them as a larger ensemble in Bach's immortal Double Violin Concerto.