She was "one of those humble, highly accomplished and low key people who never drew attention to herself,” wrote Farida Cooper about former opera singer Zarin Hodiwala who passed away in Bombay on January 31, 2025 at the age of 83.
Zarin Hodiwala: accomplished and humble
Educated in Germany on a Max Mueller Bhavan scholarship, Hodiwala (née Ghadiali) obtained her PhD in Western classical music from the Ludwig Maxmillian University of Munich, a university that has given the world 43 Nobel laureates, notes Cooper. Subsequently, the soprano performed at concert halls all over Europe, singing both arias (opera music for solos) and lieders (German art songs on romantic or pastoral themes) with musical legends like Czech composer and conductor Rafael Kubelik, Italian conductor Ricardo Muti, English conductor Sir Colin Davis and American maestro Leonard Bernstein. One of her more memorable performances, during the 16 years she lived and worked in Europe, was at the Notre Dame in Paris.
On her return to India in the early 1980s, Zarin met and married Darayes Hodiwala, an expert in European antiquities, immersing herself in a life devoted to music, art and culture. The couple was seen regularly at concerts and musical events in Bombay. Continuing her musical career, Zarin participated in the annual Sangat Chamber Music Festival organized by the Mehli Mehta Foundation. In 1985 she was soloist at the Tri-centenary Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. On the 200th birth anniversary of German composer Robert Schumann in June 2011 Zarin performed in Poona as a soloist accompanied by Canadian pianist Paul Stewart and the Chamber Singers Choir.
An inseparable couple, Zarin and Darayes were regulars at the Willingdon Sports Club where they were popular with all. Friends and staff visited them when they were both hospitalized.
Zarin is survived by her husband Darayes.