Japanese conductor Ozawa Seiji died on Tuesday due to heart failure at his home in Tokyo. He was 88.

The world-renowned maestro was born in what was then called Manchuria, now northeastern China, in 1935.

He began to play the piano when he was an elementary school student and entered the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo.

He learned conducting from Saito Hideo, who taught a number of Japanese conductors.

In his 20s, Ozawa moved to Europe and the United States to further his musical training.

There, he studied under two legendary conductors, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.

Ozawa served as the musical director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera.

He also conducted at other renowned orchestras and opera houses.