His name cropped up recently due to the controversy surrounding his concert, "Ehsaas-e-Kashmir" (The feel of Kashmir), organized by the German Embassy in Kashmir.
Let's take a look at who exactly is Zubin Mehta:
Zubin Mehta, born on April 29, 1936 in Mumbai is an Indian Parsi conductor of western classical music. He was the Music Director for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967 and assumed the Music Directorship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1962, a post he retained till 1978. In 1969, he was appointed the Music Adviser to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and was made Music Director of that orchestra in 1977.
In 1981 the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra awarded him the title of Music Director for life. He has till now conducted over three thousand concerts with this extraordinary ensemble including tours spanning over five continents.
In 1978, he took over the post of Music Director for the New York Philharmonic which lasted for 13 years, the longest in the orchestra's history. Since 1985, he has been chief conductor of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.
Born in a Parsi family, Zubin started his musical learning under the guidance of his father, Mehli Mehta, who himself was a musical conductor, violinist and the founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. After a short period of pre-medical studies in Bombay, he left for Vienna in 1954 where he eventually entered the conducting programme under Hans Swarowsky at the Akademie für Musik.
Moreover, he won the Liverpool International Conducting Competition in 1958 and was also a prize-winner of the summer academy at Tanglewood. By 1961, he had already conducted the Vienna, Berlin and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras.
Zubin Mehta made his debut as an opera conductor with Tosca in Montreal in 1963. Since then he has conducted the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, and the opera houses of Chicago and Florence as well as at the Salzburg Festival.
Between 1998 and 2006, he was Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In October 2006, he opened the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia and is since then the President of the annual Festival del Mediterrani in Valencia.
Awards and Recognition:
1966 - The Government of India honoured Mehta with the Padma Bhushan
1991- Received a special prize in recognition for his unique devotion to Israel and to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
1995 - Laureate of the Wolf Prize in Arts
1999 - Lifetime Achievement Peace and Tolerance Award of the United Nations
2001 - The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Vibhushan
2005 - Voted as the 117th greatest Israeli of all time
2006 – Awarded the Kennedy Center Honors for his lifetime contributions to American culture
2007 - Mehta received the Second Annual Bridgebuilder Award which honours civic leaders who have formed partnerships across racial, social, economic and geographic barriers for the betterment of their communities.
2007 – Awarded the Dan David Prize for innovative and interdisciplinary research in their own field from around the world.
2008 - Received the Praemium Imperiale (World Culture Prize in Memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu), Japan.
2011 - Mehta is the the 2,434th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2013 – Received the Tagore Award 2013 for his outstanding contribution towards cultural harmony.
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