Zubin Mehta
conductor
Zubin Mehta conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker for the first time at the age of just 25 – at that time the youngest debutant in the orchestra’s history. His brilliant debut led to a close artistic partnership with innumerable unforgettable concerts: no conductor has conducted the orchestra for a longer period of time, and almost no other guest conductor has led the Berliner Philharmoniker more often.
Zubin Mehta was made an honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker in February 2019; he celebrated his 50th anniversary conducting the orchestra in October 2011, and celebrated his 80th birthday together with the Berliner Philharmoniker five years later. He was chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and held the same position with the orchestra of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence. In addition to his concert engagements, he has conducted numerous opera performances at the most prestigious houses, including as general music director of Bayerische Staatsoper from 1998 to 2006. Zubin Mehta is an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Vienna and an honorary conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bayerische Staatsoper and the Staatskapelle Berlin. Together with his brother Zarin, he founded the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in his native Bombay to encourage children’s interest in classical music. He is also involved in the education of young Israelis and Israeli Arabs with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv and through projects in Shwaram and Nazareth.
