Archived under: History, Horn and music history, Teaching | Philip Farkas
Who is this Philip Farkas you Speak of?
The topic of Philip Farkas came up recently and I realized that among horn students today his name is not as well known as I would have thought. As a high school student I purchased my 
first horn, a Holton 177 (Farkas Model), I played on a Holton Farkas mouthpiece into college (I still have the MC and the MDC I used), and in late high school I first read The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, a book that at the time greatly influenced my playing. I later, as a Doctoral student, took a few lessons with Farkas and even played at his 50th wedding anniversary reception in a horn quintet. He was certainly an influence on me as a teacher and player.
Farkas (1914-1992) was arguably the leading horn teacher of the twentieth century. If you have never read his publications, some are a little dated (The Art was published over 50 years ago now) but still worth reading.
To learn more about Farkas and his career (Principal Horn in Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston, Professor at Indiana University) and publications check out this link to his biography in the IU Library website.
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