Zarin Mehta (born 28 October 1938) is an Indian-Canadian arts executive who served as the president and executive director of the

New York Philharmonic Orchestra The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

from 2000 to 2012, in addition to various positions in the performing arts industry.

Career

Mehta is a chartered accountant. During his career at the

public accounting An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

firm Coopers & Lybrand (1962-1981) in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, he rose to partner. He was an accountant at Frederic B. Smart & Co., in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(1957-1962).

Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Mehta was managing director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1981 to 1990.

Ravinia Festival

Mehta was named executive director of the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...

in 1990 and later became president and CEO. During his 10-year tenure he pioneered the

jazz festival This is a list of notable jazz festivals around the world. Historic jazz festivals Jazz festivals by country The following is an incomplete list of notable jazz festivals, including both current and defunct festivals of note. Africa Angol ...

within Ravinia and a world music series.

New York Philharmonic

Mehta was appointed New York Philharmonic executive director in September 2000 and received the additional role of president in June 2004. He was instrumental in securing the logistics for the

2008 New York Philharmonic visit to North Korea The New York Philharmonic concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, on February 26, 2008, was a significant event in North Korea–United States relations. The orchestra played in East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, with the entire concert broadcast on Nort ...

. On 27 September 2010 Mehta announced he would step down as president and chief executive of the New York Philharmonic when his contract expires after the 2011-2012 season, after having spent 12 years at the Philharmonic.

Sonoma State University

Mehta was named co-executive director of the Green Music Center at

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's ...

in October 2013. Both artist Lang Lang and benefactor

Sandy Weill Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) *(Sandy) A ...

were instrumental in his appointment. President of the university, Judy K. Sakaki, announced in December 2016 that as part of a plan to restructure Green Music Center management, a single executive director will be hired to fulfill the duties of both Mehta and the interim co-executive director, Stan Nosek. Mehta's total pay and benefits during 2015 was $625,339.56. In 2015, Mehta was identified as the highest earning employee of the California State University system. Mehta retired from Sonoma State in 2017.

Personal

He is the brother of

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 emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

and son of the late

Mehli Mehta Mehli Mehta (25 September 1908 – 19 October 2002) was an Indian conductor and violinist. Early life Mehta was born in Bombay, India to a Parsi family. His involvement in music stemmed from his birth. As a young violinist his main musical infl ...

, founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. He is married to

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

soprano Carmen Lasky, who was previously married to his brother Zubin.

Sources

Center Stage.net

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Zarin Parsi people from Mumbai Living people 1938 births Indian emigrants to the United States Indian emigrants to England Indian emigrants to Canada Canadian accountants Members of the Order of Canada American male musicians of Indian descent American musicians of Indian descent American people of Parsi descent Canadian people of Parsi descent Musicians from Mumbai Naturalized citizens of Canada