Former Trinity Chair of Music, Composer Hormoz Farhat, honoured in homeland Iran

Posted on: 09 May 2018

Trinity's former Chair of Music, Professor Hormoz Farhat spoke at a ceremony organized by the Iranian Artists Forum in honour of the composer's professional career.

After holding a number of academic music posts in the USA and Iran, Professor Farhat took up the post of Professor of Music at Trinity College Dublin in 1982 until his retirement. The Chair of Music is one of the longest-established chairs in Trinity, predating the foundation of the department by 210 years. It was founded in 1764 and has been held by such distinguished scholars as Ebenezer Prout (1835–1909) and Charles Kitson (1874–1944). In 1995 the distinguished professor and composer, Hormoz Farhat, retired after fifteen years’ service to the department. After his departure it was vacant for a number of years, but the Chair was filled for a brief period in 2015–2016, but is currently vacant again.

A comprehensive revision of the undergraduate syllabus began when Hormoz Farhat became Professor in 1982. Students could now specialise in either composition or musicology. Since then the range of options has been expanded to include a specialisation in music technology, and a wider range of choices within musicology and composition. The 20th Century is when music education really took off in Trinity, and for that we have to thank Brian Boydell and Hormoz Farhat. Brian Boydell established the department of music in 1974 – until then there had been a professor but no department – and he set up a programme of historical, technical and analytical teaching. When Hormoz Farhat took over as professor in 1982, he oversaw a comprehensive revision of the undergraduate syllabus – students could now specialise in either composition or musicology. And he led by example, as had Boydell, both men being wonderful composers as well as teachers.

As a composer, Professor Farhat has written a sizeable body of works including concertos for piano, flute and clarinet, six string quartets and numerous chamber works.

Professor Farhat collaborated with Mehrjui in “Cow”, which won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1971. It was the first award that Iranian cinema received in an international event. Hormoz Farhat was born in Iran. He studied music at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Mills College, California, graduating with the degrees of BA in music, MA in composition and PhD in composition and ethnomusicology.