Farkas and the Art of Marketing I

I have recently been re-reading Philip Farkas & His Horn: A Happy and Worthwhile Life by Nancy Jordan Fako. One thing in this book I found especially interesting in trying to understand Farkas the man better was his background in advertising and marketing, a field which he left orchestral playing to work in full time in 1947.

His orchestral career was impressive, playing Principal Horn in Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Cleveland again, and finally Chicago again. One little known fact though is that between the second times in Cleveland and Chicago there was actually an intentional break in his orchestral career. Fako discusses his leaving Cleveland on page 47; the reasons given for this move include the stress of playing Principal Horn and the desire to join his father and brother in the family business, X-ray Sales Method, Inc.

Between May and October of 1947 Farkas worked primarily in advertising and marketing, with his horn appointment book being completely blank between May 20 and September 8. He worked hard in the advertising business, including developing a device for marketing of carpets that was patented and successfully marketed to the industry. It was only due to a change of conductors that occurred at the same time as his return to Chicago that the opportunity to rejoin the CSO occurred, and after his time in the advertising industry he opted to take that opportunity and return full time to the horn world.

This little episode in his career is not intended to diminish at all what Farkas accomplished as a player and teacher but rather to serve frankly as an example for those coming up in the horn world today. Farkas grew up around advertising and marketing and it was the career path of his father and brother. He briefly worked in the field full time and was very aware of how a personal brand is built up and how to make the most of that. It is a lesson more musicians need to take to heart, especially in our current Arts world. Like Farkas we have to be aware of our personal brand and how to market it effectively.

Also there are times we need to retool and refocus, as Farkas did in 1947. Make this fall a time that you retool and get focused on your personal brand.