Kimmel Center kudos: If you see this proud mom and dad in the house this week, give them a big ovation

Thursday through Saturday, Philadelphia Orchestra assistant conductor Kensho Watanabe will make his official subscription debut in an all-Tchaikovsky program. Watanabe’s unofficial subscription debut happened in April 2017, when Yannick Nézet-Séguin fell ill, and the then-29-year-old second-in-command filled in at the last minute.

And, not unlike Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (mom of Benj Pasek), Gloria Campano (mom of Bradley Cooper), Luz Towns-Miranda (mom of Lin-Manuel Miranda), Young-Nam and Joon-Soo Oh (parents of Sandra Oh), and oodles other overachievers’ moms and dads, Watanabe’s parents were along for the ride at their child’s shining moment.

In this case, a very wild ride. Nobuko and Masahiro Watanabe sped down I-95 in record time from their home in Greenwich, Conn., to be there for their boy.

This week, the Watanabes won’t have to rush to get to Philly, where they’ll attend all three of their son’s performances.

Here, the couple talks about raising a kid who went to Juilliard at age 9, double-majored in biology and music at Yale, and earned both a coveted spot at Curtis and a place in the hearts of the Philadelphia Orchestra. It’s clear they couldn’t love their son more, but when it comes to parenting, they’re pleasantly hands-off.

Masahiro: Maybe this is good for my wife to talk about.

Nobuko: Before Kensho was born, we lived in London for my husband’s job [as a banker], and we loved classical music. We went to Royal Festival Hall to listen to the classical concerts a lot.

And then I was waiting for a baby, and looking at my husband’s life. He worked so hard — only work, every day.

I just thought maybe if I have a boy, and if he has the music in his life, and if he plays the violin very well … with any job, maybe his life will be enriched. I was thinking my children should find something in their life besides work, something that is so important that it makes their life happier and more fun and deeper and wider.

Nobuko: I played the piano, but as a middle school student ,I just stopped taking lessons.

Masahiro: I don’t have time to play music.

Nobuko: When he was 2 years old, we were living back in Japan, and I just called the violin teacher. In the Suzuki method, 2 years old is the ideal time to start the violin.

Kensho’s teacher was the first student of Dr. Suzuki, and very strict. He asked Kensho to sit down and listen to the other students’ lesson. Kensho was 2 years and 2 months: I was not sure he could do that. But for three hours, he just sat still and listened.

Usually that teacher did not start giving lessons to that young a student, but he was impressed. ‘Kensho, you can start the violin,’ the teacher said, ‘This child loves music very much.’

We were surprised. That is the start of Kensho’s music life.

Nobuko: As a mother, I thought taking the violin lessons was the perfect discipline for a small child. [Kensho’s] teacher said, ‘If you eat the meal, you have to practice the violin.’ Before the lesson, the students bow to the teacher. After the lesson, ‘Thank you very much,’ and the students bow to the teacher.

Nobuko: The teacher’s personality was really good for Kensho. He loved Kensho, and Kensho loved his twice-a-week lessons. Every time, he couldn’t wait for his lesson.

He would practice one piece, then again, and he could play the piece. Making that effort and seeing that he could achieve it was good for him.

Kensho never said, ‘I don’t want to practice,’ or, ‘I don’t want to go to the violin lesson.’ Always, he loved to.

Masahiro: When Kensho was born, we had waited for a baby for 10 years. Kensho was kind of a dream come true. As parents, we don’t have any complaints. We like to do our best by our children.

Nobuko: Our second son was born when Kensho started to play violin. I had to take Kensho to the lesson twice a week, which was quite a ways from our house. While Kensho was taking the violin lesson, my husband was taking care of the just-born baby in the car.

My husband and I, once we start something, we just respect the teacher and follow the teacher’s instruction, 100 percent. So we never thought it was a hard job or a sacrifice.

Nobuko: With Kisho, who is two years younger, it’s the same as Kensho. We tried to get him not to play the same instrument as Kensho — we didn’t want any kind of competition — but he wanted to play the violin like his older brother.

Kisho actually followed mostly the same path as Kensho. He achieved the same achievement on the music side. He’s a lawyer now.

Did you think Kensho would be a musician?

Masahiro: We supposed Kensho was going into the medical field. But he could not tell us he would like to go into the music field. He thought his parents wanted him to go into medicine.

Nobuko: He couldn’t tell us he applied to Curtis. He called us from his hotel in Philadelphia after the candidates were cut from 300 to 20. At that moment, Kensho could not hide anything from us. ‘I’m in Philadelphia. I’m auditioning for Curtis, for conducting.’

We thought: If he does not get in, he’ll go back to the medical field. Fortunately, he was accepted. This was the turning point of his life, to the music side.

Masahiro: Without music, he could only think of his life as getting harder and harder.

Nobuko: Kensho first called me at three o’clock in the afternoon. At that time, he was not sure but thought maybe he would conduct. ‘So, are you ready to come to the Philadelphia?’ Masa and I are thinking: No. The Philadelphia Orchestra won’t ask the young assistant to conduct that complicated program.

At five o’clock, Kensho called us: ‘Mom, I’m going to conduct.’ We had less than three hours. We just jumped in the car and left for Philadelphia.

Masahiro: In the car, we used the smartphone to make a reservation for the seats.

Masahiro: We arrived in central Philadelphia maybe five minutes before eight o’clock, but we could not find any place to park. Oh, my goodness. We were so desperate to find a parking place.

We finally found a parking place a little bit far away and walked. Just as we got in the Kimmel Center, the [auditorium] door was closed. We missed the first piece.

Nobuko: We saw Kensho walk out on the stage on the big screen. We watched him lead the first piece. Maybe I was looking so emotional or really disappointed. An American couple was sitting and watching the screen, and they saw us and said, ‘Today, Yannick is not conducting. This is the assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.’

I just said, ‘He is my son.’

Nobuko: We see him only after the last concert on Saturday. When all three concerts finish, we are going to get together to have a late dinner.

Usually before the concert we won’t bother him. Maybe after the first concert we may go backstage. But usually we just step out of the way of Kensho’s conducting.

Nobuko: In Japan, so many parents are like that. Kensho went to Juilliard when he was 9 years old. He went for nine years, and we saw many orchestra parents. We don’t like that.

Nobuko: I can’t express it. I’m of course so proud — and also I don’t know what Masa feels — but I just feel, I really appreciate Kensho just being excited to be the conductor, that he could find what he loves to do.

Masahiro: After Kensho’s conducting, we always feel tired. We have not reached the level of just enjoying his conducting.

All Tchaikovsky

Assistant conductor Kensho Watanabe leads the Philadelphia Orchestra at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Broad and Locust Streets, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 2 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday, $49-$163, 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org