Ayako Uehara became the first female pianist ever to win the Tchaikovsky Competition. (Jiji)

Japanese musicians attracted a great deal of attention on the world stage during 2002. While internationally renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa began work as the musical director of the Vienna State Opera, young Japanese took top honors at the Tchaikovsky International Music Competition in Moscow and the Long-Thibaud International Music Competition in Paris, both of which serve as springboards for young performers. Meanwhile, a blind Japanese pianist made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York to critical acclaim.

A Pianist Breaks New Ground in Tchaikovsky Competition
Ozawa, 68, took up his new post in Vienna in September after his long stint as the music director at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His first work for the Vienna State Opera, staged on November 9, 2002, marked his debut as an opera director. This performance was viewed by some as a test of his prowess as director, and the night was a huge success, proving that the Ozawa the world knows is still in top form.

A number of young Japanese are being hailed as new stars in the world of music. One of the most noteworthy is 22-year-old Ayako Uehara, who in June 2002 became both the first Japanese and the first woman of any nationality to win for piano at the Tchaikovsky Competition, which takes place only once every four years. In the violin competition, no winner was declared, but 23-year-old Tamaki Kawakubo placed second.

Uehara started playing the piano at the age of 3, and by the time she was 10 years old people were calling her "Japan's first girl prodigy." She went to a regular high school, and because she was so busy with both her studies and her practice, it took her four and a half years to graduate instead of the usual three. But she was determined to finish school, and her endurance and concentration have helped her become who she is today. Endurance and concentration are also requisite to survive the 13-day Tchaikovsky Competition, which includes a preliminary round, a secondary round, and a final round with eight contestants. Uehara received thunderous applause after finishing her performance in the final round, during which she played such pieces as Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.

Long-Thibaud Applauds Its Youngest Winner Yet
At the Long-Thibaud International Music Competition, meanwhile, Akiko Yamada became the youngest person ever to win, taking home first place for violin at the age of 16. Another Japanese, 18-year-old Kyoko Yonemoto, finished third.

Yamada began learning the violin at the age of 3. As a child, when her father's job took the family to France, she enrolled in the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris, where she graduated at the top of her class in the violin department in 1999. She then enrolled in the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris, where she is currently studying.

At the competition, Yamada made the unorthodox choice of performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto. She explained, "Choosing the works of Paganini or Shostakovich in order to demonstrate a high level of technique was an option, but I wanted to put my performance to the test through the music I love the best." The panel of judges said that Yamada's richness of expression and high level of technique were moving.

Blind Japanese Pianist Debuts at Carnegie Hall
Pianist Takeshi Kakehashi, 26, who is based in Vienna, Austria, made his debut in the United States on October 20, 2002, with a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York. Kakehashi, who was born in 1977, lost much of his sight due to cancer at the age of just one month. He took up the piano at the age of 4 and entered a preparatory school for the Vienna National University of Music when he was 12. The following year, however, he fell ill again and lost his remaining sight. His determination to continue playing music remained undaunted, though, and he has claimed many honors, including finishing second at the Long-Thibaud Competition in 1998.

When he concluded his performance at Carnegie Hall, the audience showered him with shouts of "bravo." He explained of his resolution: "While my blindness is certainly part of me, I hope to overcome it and have people judge me only on my music."