Farkas was born on March 5, 1914, in Chicago to Anna Cassidy Farkas and Emil Nelson Farkas. March 5 is called the Horn
Duumvirate Date, as it is the birth date of both Farkas and
Barry Tuckwell, two great horn players of the 20th century. His parents were ignorant about music, but his mother encouraged him to take piano lessons as his introduction to music. Around the age of twelve his
Boy Scout troop needed a bugler, so he volunteered. He sought tutoring from a neighbor who played the trumpet, and soon became very good. Around the age of fourteen he started to develop asthma. His parents thought it would be best if he played a wind instrument in band, but the school only had a
bass drum and a tuba available at the moment, so he chose the tuba. Farkas had to take a street car to school, and the conductor began to complain at the tuba's size. Farkas asked him what instrument would be more convenient and the conductor pointed to a horn case belonging to a band that was on the street. Soon after, Farkas and his father went to downtown Chicago and rented a Schmidt horn for three dollars a month. After playing for a while, he pursued a profession as a horn player. While still in high school, he became the youngest member of the All-Chicago High School Orchestra, first horn player in the
Chicago Civic Orchestra, and first horn in the
Kansas City Philharmonic as his first professional horn debut. He played first chair in the
Chicago Symphony,
Boston, and
Cleveland orchestras, as the only player ever offered the solo horn positions in these three major orchestras and the youngest principal player in the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Farkas was a music professor at Indiana University School of Music,
Northwestern University,
Cleveland Institute, Kansas City Conservatory,
De Paul University, and
Roosevelt University. His pupils included
Douglas Hill and
Paul Marcotte. Farkas held many clinics and performed as a soloist nationwide. He founded the Wind Music Inc. publishing company. He partnered with
Chicago trumpeter
Renold Schilke in the founding of Schilke Music Products and as consultants to the musical instrument division of
Yamaha Corporation. He received a doctorate in music, presented by
Eastern Michigan University in April 1978. He designed the top-selling
Holton-Farkas horn made by the
Frank Holton Company and a large selection of
mouthpieces. He wrote and published four best-selling books to help French horn players, brass players, and all musicians improve in the art. His first book,
The Art of French Horn Playing, is nicknamed the bible of horn players. He continued to practice his horn every day until his death on December 21, 1992, at the age of 78. ==See also==