26/08/2024
Zubin Mehta was born in 1936 in Bombay and received his first musical education from his father, Mehli Mehta, a renowned concert violinist and founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Initially, Zubin Mehta began studying medicine in Bombay, but in 1954, he moved to Vienna to study conducting at the Music Academy under Hans Swarowsky. He won the International Conducting Competition in Liverpool in 1958 and also received an award at the summer academy in Tanglewood. By 1961, he had already conducted the Vienna, Berlin, and Israel Philharmonics, recently celebrating 50 years of collaboration with all three ensembles.
He served as the artistic director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967. In 1962, he took over the musical leadership of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he remained until 1978. In October 2019, he celebrated his farewell with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, where he served for 50 years and was named their Artistic Director Emeritus. He became the artistic director of the New York Philharmonic in 1978, beginning a 13-year tenure, the longest in the orchestra's history. From 1985 to 2017, he was the chief conductor of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.
As an opera conductor, he debuted with *Tosca* in Montreal in 1963. Since then, he has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan, and opera houses in Chicago and Florence, as well as at the Salzburg Festival. From 1998 to 2006, he was the artistic director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In October 2006, he opened the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia and was the president of the annual Festival del Mediterrani, where he conducted the celebrated *Ring* cycle with La Fura dels Baus in co-production with the Florence opera house. Other *Ring* cycles were completed in Chicago and the Bavarian State Opera.
Zubin Mehta has received numerous awards and honors, including the Nikisch-Ring, inherited from Karl Böhm. He is an honorary citizen of Florence and Tel Aviv and has been named an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera (1997), the Bavarian State Opera (2006), and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien (2007). Several orchestras have awarded him the title of honorary conductor, including the Vienna Philharmonic (2001), the Munich Philharmonic (2004), the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2006), the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (2006), the Staatskapelle Berlin (2014), the Bavarian State Orchestra (2006), and the Berlin Philharmonic (2019). The Teatro di San Carlo in Naples named Zubin Mehta its honorary artistic director (2016), and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic recognized him as Conductor Emeritus (2019). In a special honor in 2022, the new concert hall of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence was named after him.
In October 2008, Japan's imperial family awarded him the Praemium Imperiale. In March 2011, Zubin Mehta received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany was awarded to him in July 2012. The Government of India honored him with the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony in September 2013, and the Government of Australia appointed him an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 2022.
Zubin Mehta continues to support the discovery and promotion of musical talents worldwide. Along with his brother Zarine, he co-chairs the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in Bombay, where over 200 children are educated in Western classical music. He also supports the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, which nurtures young talents closely associated with the Israel Philharmonic, as well as a project teaching young Israeli Arabs with local teachers and members of the Israel Philharmonic.
This extraordinary collaboration between Zubin Mehta and Violeta Smailovic-Huart has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of Zeljko Lopicic, a proud native of Sarajevo and a devoted supporter of the arts. Zeljko Lopicic's deep connection to classical music stems from his mother, and his passion has driven him to establish the classical music label " World Classic." As a heartfelt sponsor of the Sarajevo Philharmonic, Zeljko Lopicic continues to contribute to the rich cultural heritage of Sarajevo, ensuring that the legacy of classical music thrives in his beloved city.
Violeta Smailović-Huart was born in Sarajevo into a family of renowned professional musicians. She developed her unique artistic expressiveness and interpretative strength from an early age through work with eminent Bosnian-Herzegovinian and international violin pedagogues, including Sagrestano, Vernikov, Grubert, Chugayeva, and Borok. She graduated at the age of just 18 from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and further refined her skills in France (Cycle de Perfectionnement/Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris) and the United States (Master's Degree, Concert Artist Diploma/SMU).
After being recognized as the best young musician in the former Yugoslavia, her talent caught the attention of the famous Yehudi Menuhin, who named her a Laureate of the Menuhin Foundation. This recognition launched her into a brilliant international career, leading her to perform in prestigious concert halls across Europe, the United States, and Japan (St. John’s Cathedral/NY, Salle Gavot/Paris, Concertgebouw Hall/Amsterdam, Rachmaninoff Hall/Moscow, Morton Mayerson Hall/Dallas, Lisinski Concert Hall/Zagreb, and more).
As a guest of the Moroccan Royal Palace, Violeta took on the role of mentor to the most talented violinists in Morocco and the Royal Moroccan Orchestra. The French National Museums Center awarded her the prestigious title of Artist in Residence (Château de Maisons Laffitte).
Violeta generously shares her love for music, invaluable knowledge, and experience with new generations of musicians through the international project "Music on the Strings," which she launched in Sarajevo in 2011 in collaboration with world-renowned artists. Today, the concert-educational activities of "Music on the Strings" are held not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina but also in France, Slovenia, and Croatia. Her long-standing artistic and pedagogical work has enabled her to speak six languages.
Violeta Smailović-Huart is a violin professor at the prestigious Schola Cantorum music academy in Paris, and since 2023, she has served as the concertmaster of the Sarajevo Philharmonic, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. She plays on a violin made by the famous Italian master Enrico Rocca.
https://bfan.link/zubin-mehta-in-sarajevo
