Israeli orchestra maestro Zubin Mehta to retire in 2019
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Tel Aviv - The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's famed maestro, Zubin Mehta, said Monday that he plans to retire from the role in October 2019, which would mark his 50th year at the group's helm.
The 80-year-old, India-born maestro has conducted the Tel Aviv-based orchestra in thousands of concerts and tours on five continents since his first appearance with the group in 1961, the statement said.
He became the music director in 1977 and was given a lifetime appointment to the position in 1981.
The Vienna-trained Mehta conducted top world orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic while still in his mid-twenties, and had also been guest conductor at the New York Met and La Scala in Milan.
