The conductor Zubin Mehta was born on this day, April 29, in 1936. He is an Indian conductor of Western and Eastern classical music, and is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In 1978, Mehta left the Los Angeles Philharmonic to become music director for the New York Philharmonic. Among the reasons he wanted to direct the NYP was that it allowed him to experiment with new ideas, such as taking the orchestra to Harlem. There, they played at the Abyssinian Baptist Church each year. Accompanying the orchestra with Mehta for various concerts were Isaac Stern, and Itzhak Perlman.