Univ.-Prof. Bejun Mehta, Countertenor
Ordinariate for Voice
mehta@mdw.ac.at

The American countertenor Bejun Mehta, acclaimed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung as “…arguably the best countertenor in the world” and by The New York Times as “one of the most commanding, exhilarating countertenors of the modern era”, enjoys a renowned and influential world career. Mehta’s application of bel canto technique has changed and expanded what it means to be a modern countertenor. For over twenty-five years, Mehta has performed leading roles—some in productions specifically mounted for him—at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, Berlin State Opera, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Hamburg State Opera, Theater an der Wien, Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie, De Nederlandse Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Zurich Opera, Opéra Nationale de Paris and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne, the Aix-en-Provence and Santa Fe Festivals and the Wiener Festwochen. He has sung virtually all the major roles of his Fach. On the concert stage, either touring CD programs or in recital of wide-ranging repertoire, Mehta appears at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall London, the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Haus für Mozart/Salzburg, Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, Palais des Beaux-Arts and Flagey/Brussels, Palau des Arts Valencia, Auditorio National Madrid, Cité de la Musique and Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Prinzregententheater and Cuvilliés Theatre/Munich, Berliner Konzerthaus and Boulez Saal, Rudolfinum and Estates Theater/Prague, the Edinburgh, San Sebastian, Verbier, and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals and the BBC Proms London.

His many recordings have won the 2011 ECHO Klassik for Opera Recording of the Year (Ombra cara), the Diapason d’Or (twice: Ombra cara, CANTATA, yet can I hear…), Le Diamant d’Opera Magazine (CANTATA, yet can I hear…), the Choc de Classica (multiple), BBC Music Magazine Premiere Recording of the Year (Written on Skin), Gramophone Award – Contemporary (Written on Skin), Opera Magazine Award (multiple), and the Edison Klassiek (multiple). Mehta has been twice nominated for the GRAMMY Award, once as singer for Agrippina/Harmonia Mundi and won as Recording Producer for Janos Starker’s 1997 Bach Cello Suites on BMG/RCA. He was shortlisted for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and nominated for the 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement
in Opera (Orlando/Covent Garden).

Mehta has been fortunate to have numerous roles and new works written for him, most notably George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, widely considered one of the most important new operas of the 21st century. Benjamin subsequently wrote a solo cantata for Mehta called Dream of the Song which he has performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Boston Symphony, among others. Mehta also originated the role of Stefan in Toshio Hosokawa’s Stilles Meer for the Hamburg Staatsoper.
As a conductor, Mehta appears in programs of the baroque and early classical repertoire with such orchestras as the Riga Sinfonietta, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Dresdner Philharmonie, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Württembergisches Kammerorchester and La Folia, among others. He conducts his first opera, Händel’s Theodora, at Theater an der Wien in the fall of 2023 with La Folia, directed by Stefan Herheim.

Active as a voice teacher since 2015, Mehta is a regular Guest Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Oslo Academy of Opera. He has given lessons/masterclasses at the Universität der Künste Berlin and the Eastman School of Music, and is often invited to give lessons/masterclasses for Young Artist Programs such as the Salzburg Young Singers Project, the Opera Studios of the Netherlands Opera and Staatsoper Hamburg. Mehta also maintains a private voice studio and currently has students in the ensembles of the Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Nuremberg, the Wiener Staatsoper, et al., in competitions worldwide and launched into the career. Mehta was a Jury Member for the 2023 Queen Elisabeth International Voice Competition.

Mehta’s own voice studies were with Joan-Patenaude Yarnell (Curtis Institute of Music and Manhattan School of Music) and with Phyllis Curtin (Boston University). He won fellowships to the Tanglewood Festival and the Music Academy of the West for further study. From 1984-1990 Mehta studied violoncello with Aldo Parisot (Yale School of Music). Mehta attended Yale University and was graduated in 1990 with a B.A. magna cum laude With Distinction in Germanic Languages and Literatures. In 2023, Bejun Mehta was appointed Professor of Voice at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). He is the first countertenor to hold this position at the mdw.