Mehli Mehta (25 September 1908 – 19 October 2002) was an Indian conductor and violinist.

Early life

Mehta was born in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to a

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

family. His involvement in music stemmed from his birth. As a young violinist his main musical influence and inspiration was

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

. A pioneering figure in the Indian musical world, he founded the

Bombay Symphony Orchestra Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in 1935, and was its

Concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

(1935–1945) and conductor (1945–1955). He was married to Tehmina.

Performing career

In 1940 Mehta founded the Bombay String Quartet. He spent five years in New York City studying with eminent violin pedagogue

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman and Kyung Wha Chung. Biography Galamian was born in ...

, and earned degrees from the

University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...

and

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

in London. He moved to the United States in 1945, where he studied violin in New York. In 1955 Mehli Mehta moved to England, where he served for five years as Assistant Concertmaster and Concertmaster of the Hallé Orchestra of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

under Sir

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...

. Mehta came to regard Barbirolli as "one of the greatest influences of my conducting life." In 1959 he joined the Curtis Quartet of

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and toured with them across the United States for the next five years. In later years he was to state, "the string quartet has been the prime, basic factor of my entire musical philosophy." He then moved to Los Angeles and was Director of the Orchestra Department at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

(1964 to 1976). Within two months of his arrival in 1964, he organised the

American Youth Symphony The American Youth Symphony (AYS) was an orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States, It was founded in 1964. History AYS was founded in 1964 by conductor Mehli Mehta (father of Zubin Mehta and Zarin Mehta), then Director of the O ...

with students from all the universities in Los Angeles. Under his dedicated leadership the orchestra grew to its current size of 110 young musicians, ages 16–27, from all over Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. He conducted the orchestra at the twelve-hour

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Marathon in a performance of a Beethoven symphony on Beethoven's 200th birthday, 16 December 1970, in the

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center, which is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt ...

, a concert at which his son,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

, also conducted.Riposte by Rip Rense: "Ode To Joy..."
/ref> He led the orchestra until its 34th season in 1998. In his biography of Barbirolli, author Michael Kennedy quotes the great conductor as saying, "I... attended Mehli's concert with the American Youth Symphony. I am glad I did, for dear Mehli was magnificent. Made those children play really quite splendidly. I was really thrilled and impressed." Mehta was highly acclaimed when he appeared as conductor with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

in 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984. In addition, he conducted the RIAS Berlin,

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, Tokyo,

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and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Symphonies; the

Sinfonietta; and the symphony orchestras of

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Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

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, Miami,

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, Memphis, Ashland and Eugene. In March 1983, he made his New York debut at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

to unanimous acclaim with the National Orchestra Association Symphony. Mehta was the recipient of the Governor's "Award for the Arts" of the

California Arts Council The California Arts Council functions as a state agency headquartered in Sacramento, California. Its board comprises eight council members who receive appointments from both the Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and ...

: the "Magnum Opus Award" of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

; the American String Teachers Award; the Award of Merit from the Mayor and Council of Los Angeles; and the Zoroastrian Association of California's Honorable Award. Mehta was under the management of ICM Artists Ltd., New York. Mehli Mehta died in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, California on 19 October 2002, aged 94.

Legacy

Mehta's son, Zubin, is a well-known classical music conductor. His other son, Zarin, was the executive director of the New York Philharmonic and was previously the executive director of the Montreal Symphony as well as the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...

in Chicago.

Sources

MV Daily.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Mehli 1908 births 2002 deaths Parsi people from Mumbai University of Mumbai alumni Alumni of Trinity College of Music Indian emigrants to the United States UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television faculty American male musicians of Indian descent American musicians of Indian descent Musicians from Mumbai 20th-century Indian conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom Zubin Mehta