Hidayat Inayat Khan
English/French composer and conductor Hidayat Inayat Khan was born in London UK on 6 August 1917. He was the son of Sufi Master Hazrat Inayat Khan, so he was immersed in Eastern music from an early age. His own son Fazal Inayat-Khan led the International Sufi Movement from 1968 until 1982.
He studied Western music at L'École Normale de Musique in Paris - violin with Bernard Sinsheimer, composition with Nadia Boulanger and was in Diran Alexanian's orchestra class.
From 1942 Hidayat Inayat Khan was professor of music at the Lycee Musical de Dieulefit, and later moved to the Netherlands, played violin in the Haarlem Orchestra and studied orchestral conducting with Toon Verheij. In 1952 he conducted his own Po'me en Fa for piano and orchestra.
His Zikar Symphony was performed in May 1957 in Salle Pleyel in Paris, conducted by Georges Prêtre.
His music, including the Ghandi Symphony, Op 25, has been broadcast widely.
Hidayat Inayat Khan died on 12 September 2016 in Munich, aged ninety-nine.