Farhad Mechkat

Farhad Mechkat is a critically acclaimed composer, conductor, and musical virtuoso who began his musical studies at the Geneva Conservatory of Music. After graduating from the Mannes College of Music in New York, he spent 3 years studying with Toscanini’s disciple, Franco Ferrara in Rome and Sienna. He then returned to New York where he won the prestigious Dmitri Mitropoulos International Competition for Young Conductors, entitling him to become assistant conductor to the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein.

That same year, he was invited for the first time to conduct the National Iranian Radio-Television Chamber Orchestra at the Shiraz Festival of the Arts. Later, he was solicited to take over the Tehran Symphony Orchestra as Music Director and Principal Conductor. During his tenure he brought the level of the orchestra to an international standard, putting Tehran on the musical map of the world. He has been a guest-conductor at some of the major international orchestras in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. His attachment and love for the Italian culture earned him the honor of being one of the youngest individuals ever to be awarded the title of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.