Who was Seiji Ozawa married to? All about his wife and kids as renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor dies aged 88

Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, who oversaw the Boston Symphony Orchestra for three decades, passed away. According to a spokesperson for the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland, he passed away in Tokyo on February 6. He was 88.

The cause of death was revealed to be heart failure. According to AP News, Ozawa died at his home.

Seiji Ozawa was initially married to Kyoko Edo, who was a pianist. Then he married Miki Irie, also known as Vera. She was a former actress and model who was born in Yokohama in 1944 and is three-quarters Japanese and one-quarter Russian, as per her IMDb biography.

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Seiji Ozawa married twice and had two kids

Seiji Ozawa was a renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor (Image via Instagram / seijiozawa_official)

Seiji Ozawa’s first wife, Kyoko Edo, was a Japanese pianist. His second wife, Vera Ilyan, was Eurasian. Vera and Ozawa had two children: Yukiyoshi, a son, and Seira, a daughter.

Kyoko Edo was born in Tokyo, Japan, on February 27, 1937. Her father’s name was Hideo Edo. She was a pianist from Japan. She received a degree from the Conservatoire de Paris, where she completed her studies in 1960.

As per Alchetron, she performed with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, the Radio France Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, etc. and founded the Arion-Edo Foundation in 1985. Edo and Ozawa got married in 1962 and divorced in 1966.

Vera Ilyan Ozawa, his second wife, was an actor and also designed clothes for kids. According to the Boston Globe, not much is known about Vera. However, in an interview, Ozawa called her "very Russian, very strong.” She was a successful model and actor when she met Ozawa. Her parents were Russian and Japanese.

As per the Boston Globe, Ozawa once said,

"When she married me, she really had enough of six hours' sleep, running around, and a quick lunch. She didn't appear at events or even in photographs for a long time. She just wanted to be a wife and mother.”

According to the Boston Globe, in an interview at the Saito Kinen festival, Seiji Ozawa said that he and Vera agreed that Seira and Yukiyoshi should grow up in Japan.

"So they could learn about their roots, and after that, do what they want."

As per Wikipedia, Seiji Ozawa and his wife wanted their children to grow up aware of their Japanese background. In order to do so, Ozawa chose to split his time between Boston and Tokyo during his career with the Boston Symphony Orchestra instead of moving his family to the United States.

Their daughter, Seira, is a Sophia University of Tokyo alumna. She worked in the world premiere of Andre Previn's opera A Streetcar Named Desire in San Francisco and helped the stage director Colin Graham.

Their son, Yukiyoshi, received his degree from Tokyo's Seijo University. He was a budding actor and director who made an appearance in a samurai-themed Japanese drama. He's well known for playing the titular character in the Long Long Man commercials for the Sakeru Gummy brand.

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His tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra lasted from 1973 to 2002. This is his most well-known position. His 29-year tenure was the longest at the school, surpassing the 25-year tenure of Russian-American conductor Serge Koussevitzky.

In addition, Ozawa won plenty of honors both domestically and abroad, including the French Legion of Honor and the Japanese Order of Culture. However, he had to put a stop to his musical endeavors in 2010 to undergo surgery for esophageal cancer.