Richard Horowitz

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Horowitz focused his work on music traditions of the Middle East. Between 1968 and 1979 he resided in Paris and Morocco, immersing himself in studies of music alongside Arabic, French, and Oriental philosophy while appearing in concerts across Europe and Morocco. His foundational influences encompassed classical, jazz, and electronic or computer music, and he also examined trance, tribal, classical, and sacred forms spanning North Africa through Indonesia. Among the instruments he played were keyboards, percussion, and an assortment of winds, notably the ney, an obliquely blown reed flute.

Horowitz composed scores for numerous feature films and earned both a Golden Globe and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award, shared with Ryuichi Sakamoto, for his contributions to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1990 film The Sheltering Sky.

Beginning in 1981, Horowitz formed a creative partnership with Tehran-born singer Sussan Deyhim. Their joint performances commenced internationally in 1984, and together they developed media theater pieces, ballets, and music for feature and short films. The 1997 Sony Classical release Majoun assembled an impressive roster of guest musicians drawn from world music, rock, and jazz. Frequent collaborator Jaron Lanier, recognized as the father of virtual reality, joined Horowitz in 1997 for a visual performance duet titled “virtual motion to music,” presented at MIDEM in Cannes as well as in Japan and Brazil. Horowitz died in Marrakesh, Morocco, on April 13, 2024, at the age of 75.