Given the impact of his career upon music, it seems incredible that Kent Nagano almost became a lawyer. Nagano has proven himself a powerhouse in the operatic and orchestral realms, championing the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Olivier Messiaen tapped Nagano to assist Seiji Ozawa in preparing the world premiere of his opera Saint François d'Assise in 1984, a work Nagano later recorded. His years as musical director of the Opéra National de Lyon were marked by a number of distinguished premieres and recordings. From 2006 until 2020, Nagano was the music director for the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. In 2015, he took up the general music director and chief conductor posts for the Hamburg State Opera. Nagano is married to pianist Mari Kodama, and together, they issued a complete recording of Beethoven's works for piano and orchestra.