New York Philharmonic’s Zarin Mehta – A Legacy of Strong Leadership

After a long and distinguished career in arts administration, Zarin Mehta will retire this summer. Born into a well-known musical family in Bombay, he himself pursued a career in finance. Yet, an interest in music stemming from his upbringing and his strong sense of civic responsibility led to a stint on the executive board of the Montreal Symphony.

Three years later, Mehta took a leave of absence from his accounting practice to manage the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and never turned back. His nine-year tenure at the orchestra was just the beginning of a highly accomplished career in arts administration that has brought him from Montreal to Chicago and finally to New York.

“I grew up with music very much in my life,” he said. “I achieved success by combining my training as an accountant with my family upbringing and love of music.”

During his career, Mehta has witnessed a profound change in the way orchestras are funded and how closely aligned the orchestra’s fortunes are with economic prosperity. In each role he broadened the reach of the orchestra and has been credited with commissioning new works, cultivating young musicians and exciting audiences worldwide through highly successful tours and technological innovation.

“In Montreal, we put a Canadian city on the world map,” he recalled. “Part of the success was the partnership with a local financial institution as a major sponsor. They funded extraordinary concerts and sent us on tours around the world. We played at the Montreal Forum, home of the Canadiens (hockey), to an audience of 16,000 people. Another highlight was when Luciano Pavarotti joined the Orchestra. No one had done that before.”

Mehta moved to Chicago in 1990 to lead the Ravinia Festival, a job he fondly remembers as very exciting and challenging at the same time.

“It gave me a chance to lead a well-managed festival with an excellent staff. It was really multidisciplinary,” said Mehta. “I created the jazz festival. At one point we did 150 concerts in three months. It was 10 years of intense work, but with great musical pleasure.”

When the opportunity arose to move to New York 10 years later to lead the New York Philharmonic, Mehta admits he was unsure about relocating, but the opportunity to live and work in New York at the Philharmonic, where his brother, Zubin, was a former musical director, was too exciting to pass up.

The first few years in New York were turbulent, Mehta recalls. Just one year after his arrival in 2000 as executive director, the September 11th attacks occurred and financial support for the orchestra slowed significantly. The few years that followed were filled with great artistic achievement, but with limits on how much could be accomplished, especially on a global level. Credit Suisse came on board in 2007 as the Philharmonic’s first and sole global sponsor, giving the orchestra both financial stability and a global platform on which to spread their artistic reach.

“The partnership with Credit Suisse is a highlight,” said Mehta. “We have been very pleased. It was a remarkable gesture on their part. We’re happy with them and their staff. We have had very good people from Credit Suisse on our board- Paul Calello and Antonio Quintella. We’ve had good relationships with senior executives. It has been a real win-win situation for both of us.”

“It has been my great pleasure to work with Zarin Mehta at the New York Philharmonic over the past year,” said Antonio Quintella, Chief Executive Officer for Credit Suisse in the Americas region. “He has been a close partner for many of us at the bank and I wish Zarin nothing but the best in the future. He will be missed.”

Through the partnership with Credit Suisse, the New York Philharmonic has toured worldwide and been exposed to many of the bank’s clients. “They bring an audience to our doorstep,” said Mehta. “It is important for us to make contact with leaders of industry as potential investors. It helps that we are able to present extraordinary performances as theirs – to introduce clients to the music.”

“Zarin Mehta has been a beacon of strong and wise leadership for the New York Philharmonic through 12 memorable seasons,” said Eric Latzky, vice president for communications at the New York Philharmonic. “As an enthusiastic partner to three Music Directors — Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, and now Alan Gilbert — he has negotiated the complex path between tradition and innovation with an intuitive grace and dignity that has won him the respect and admiration of the Orchestra, Board of Directors, and Staff. His legacy is clear: the preservation and advancement of the New York Philharmonic as a cultural icon and the codifying of its status as America’s primary cultural ambassador. Thanks to Zarin, we have so many new friends around the country, and around the world.”

Renewal such as that is a key reason Mehta said he’s chosen now to relinquish his role at the orchestra.

“I think in all cultural organizations there has to be renewal,” he said. “I’m also of a certain age that someone new can come in with a breath of fresh air. Things change and I think that’s important.”

Mehta and his family plan to move back to Chicago later this year and although he has no plans to take on another permanent job, he will make himself available to orchestras in need on a case by case basis.

Upon reflection it is the stability through uncertainty that Mehta is most proud of, thanks in part to the Credit Suisse sponsorship.

“I think often about the fact that through turbulent times we have maintained cultural musical mass,” he said. “We’ve done everything that we want to do.”