Saito Kinen Orchestra

The Saito Kinen Orchestra was founded in September of 1984 when Seiji Ozawa and Kazuyoshi Akiyama organized a special concert series to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hideo Saito’s death. Mentor to both these well-known conductors, Professor Saito is best remembered as co-founder of the Toho Gakuen School, one of Japan’s leading music institutions. Under the leadership of Ozawa and Akiyama, more than 100 of Professor Saito's former students assembled in Japan for that series of performances.