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News |  11 Jul 2013 16:27 |  By RnMTeam

Zubin Mehta to receive Tagore Award for cultural harmony 2013

NEW DELHI: Noted maestro Zubin Mehta is to receive the Tagore Award for cultural harmony 2013. Mehta will be conferred the prestigious award for his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony.

Jury members for the award comprised of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

Born on the 29 April 1936, Mumbai, Mehta is an Indian Parsi conductor of western classical music and is the music director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

His father Mehli was a violinist and founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Mehta is an alumnus of Mumbai’s St Mary's School, and St Xavier's College. While in school, Mehta was taught to play the piano by Joseph de Lima, who was his first piano teacher. Mehta initially intended to study medicine, but eventually became a music student in Vienna at the age of 18, under Hans Swarowsky. Also at the same academy along with Mehta were conductor Claudio Abbado and conductor–pianist Daniel Barenboim.

The annual award was instituted by the Government during the commemoration of 150th  birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The first Tagore Award was conferred on Sitar Maestro Pt Ravi Shankar, in 2012. The award carries an amount of Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex.

Mehta's first marriage was to Canadian soprano Carmen Lasky in 1958. They have a son, Mervon and a daughter, Zarina. In 1964, they divorced.

In July 1969, Mehta married Nancy Kovack, a former American film and television actress. Mehta, a permanent resident of the United States, retains his Indian citizenship.

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