The sad news has reached us that at the age of 78, violinist and violin pedagogue Jaring Walta has passed away.

Jaring Walta was an outstanding violinist. He played in the Concertgebouw Orchestra and was concertmaster of the Overijssels Philharmonic Orchestra and was concertmaster of the Residentie Orchestra from 1970 until 2003. From 1981, for almost 40 years, he has been connected to the Royal Conservatoire as teacher. (Ex) students and colleagues will remember him as a convinced and convincing teacher who was able to shape musical talent, make it blossom and lead it to excellence, like few others. Tjeerd Top, Frederieke Saeijs, Koosje van Haeringen, Kerstin Hoelen, Joris van Rijn, Ilona Sie Dian Ho and Emmy Storms were among many of his students.

Besides being a teacher, and, not to forget, being an inimitable chairman of exam committees, Jaring was also active as governor on boards. He initiated the Iordens Violin Days, the Davina van Wely Competition and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and was a board member of the Oscar Back Competition. He was one of the driving forces to bring these different violin competitions together to become The Netherlands Violin Competition.

The Royal Conservatoire, Dutch violinists and musical life owe a great deal of gratitude to Jaring Walta for his formidable and tireless efforts towards the improvement of quality and excellence. Without him the Dutch violin landscape would have looked quite different today. We wish his family and friends strength in coming to terms with a big loss.

Henk van der Meulen, Principal
Marlon Titre, Head of the Classical Department