From Japan for Zubin

Zubin Mehta, recently in Bombay to celebrate the birth centenary of his late father Mehli with a series of concerts where he has been joined by other musical celebrities like Placido Domi­ngo and Daniel Barenboim, was awarded Japan’s Praemium Imperiale, one of art’s richest awards, for his lifetime work with orchestras around the world, notes Parsi Khabar of September 17, 2008. Backed by Japan’s royal family, the award celebrates accomplishments in painting, sculpture, music, architecture and theater or film.

Zubin Mehta: lifetime achievement

Along with Mehta, British pop artist Richard Hamilton, Russian conceptual sculptors Ilya and Emil Kabakov, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and Japanese Kabuki theater actor Tojuro Sakata each received 15 million yen (US$143,000) on October 15, 2008. Past winners of the prestigious award include Leonard Bernstein, Akira Kurosawa and Barenboim, notes the mailing.