Bejun Mehta

Biography

Bejun Mehta enjoys a multifaceted musical life. From the ages of nine to fifteen he was a celebrated solo boy soprano in concerts and recordings. He next devoted his musical energies to the cello, as both soloist and orchestral player, as a student of Aldo Parisot at Yale. In 1998 he returned to singing professionally. His teachers have been Phyllis Curtin of Boston University and Joan Patenaude-Yarnell of the Manhattan School and Curtis Institute. He also holds an honours degree in German Literature from Yale University.

He is now one of the most sought-after countertenors of his generation, appearing in leading roles at the most prestigious opera houses and at such festivals as Salzburg, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, and the BBC Proms in London.

His orchestral concert work and recital partnership with the pianist Julius Drake, in adventurous programmes ranging from the Baroque to contemporary music, have been presented by the world’s leading concert venues including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, and the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Palau des Arts in Valencia, the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, and the Bremen and San Sebastián festivals. Bejun Mehta has been profiled by CBS-TV, A&E, ORF 2, Arte, and ARD. He was nominated for the Olivier Award for his portrayal of Handel’s Orlando at the ROH, Covent Garden. The British composer George Benjamin wrote one of the leading roles in his recent opera Written On Skin for him. Premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the work was immediately acclaimed worldwide. Bejun Mehta recorded for harmonia mundi his first recital disc, a Handel programme (Ombra cara) that enjoyed absolutely phenomenal success and was awarded an Echo-Preis in 2012. This was followed by a disc of English songs with Julius Drake entitled Down by the Salley Gardens.

In addition to his many activities as a singer, in October 2013 Bejun Mehta opened a new chapter in his career by conducting the Belgian Baroque Orchestra B'Rock in a series of concerts of Haydn and Mozart symphonies.