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Zubin Mehta: The World’s Maestro from Mumbai

He dropped out of medical school in Mumbai, to study conducting instead. Within a few years, still in his 20s, he was running two of North America’s top orchestras at once, a first nobody had managed before.

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Art & Culture · ArtnCulture0153

Zubin Mehta

The World’s Maestro from Mumbai

1957

Graduates from the Vienna State Academy of Music, having dropped out of medical school in Mumbai.

1962

Becomes Music Director of the LA Philharmonic, at 26 — youngest ever for a major North American orchestra.

1969

Begins his long association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as Music Advisor.

1978

Becomes Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, a post he holds until 1991.

A Record That Took 45 Years to Match

At 26, Mehta became the youngest music director of any major North American orchestra. The record stood for 45 years, until Gustavo Dudamel tied it in 2007.

📑 Contents

1Must Know
2Good to Know
3Test Yourself
4Great to Know

Must Know

Zubin Mehta was born on 29 April 1936, in Bombay (present-day Mumbai), into a Parsi family.
His father, Mehli Mehta, was a self-taught violinist. He founded the Bombay Symphony Orchestra.
Mehta dropped out of medical studies at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He then studied conducting at the Vienna State Academy of Music, under Hans Swarowsky, graduating in 1957.
In 1962, he became Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at age 26. He was then the youngest music director of any major North American orchestra.
From 1962 to 1967, he simultaneously led both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He was the first conductor to direct two major North American orchestras at once.

Good to Know

Mehta was Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 1978 to 1991.
He has been closely linked to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra since 1969, first as Music Advisor, then Music Director, and Music Director for Life from 1981. He stepped down as active director in October 2019, and now holds the title Music Director Emeritus.
He was Chief Conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in Florence, from 1985 to 2017.
He served as Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera, in Munich, from 1998 to 2006.
Between 1990 and 1994, Mehta conducted the famous “Three Tenors” concerts, featuring Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras, in Rome and Los Angeles.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

India awarded Mehta the Padma Bhushan in 1966, and the Padma Vibhushan, its second-highest civilian honour, in 2001.
He also received the Israel Prize (1991), the Wolf Prize in Arts (1995), and Kennedy Center Honors (2006).
In 1968, Mehta appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, an early marker of his international fame.
He remains an Indian citizen, despite being a permanent resident of the United States for most of his career.
His younger brother, Zarin Mehta, is also a noted arts administrator. He served as Executive Director of the New York Philharmonic.
In 1985, Mehta conducted the New York Philharmonic premiere of a landmark Indian composition. See ArtnCulture0154 — L. Subramaniam, whose “Fantasy on Vedic Chants” it was.

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