Biography
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Born
18 June 1942
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Born In
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
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Died
29 August 2004 (aged 62)
Hans Vonk (June 18, 1942 – August 29, 2004) was a Dutch conductor.
Vonk was born in Amsterdam, the son of Franciscus Cornelis and Wilhemina Vonk. His father was a violinist in the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and died when Vonk was age three. Vonk studied piano with Jaap Spaanderman at the Amsterdam Conservatory and law at Amsterdam University. During this time, he made a living from gigs as a jazz pianist. He later studied conducting with Hermann Scherchen and Franco Ferrara.
Vonk debuted as a conductor with the Netherlands National Ballet. He later married the ballerina, Jessie Folkerts. He also served as assistant conductor with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and associate conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.
Vonk held chief conductor positions with the Residentie Orkest (1980-1991) and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1985 to 1990, he was principal conductor of both the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Semper Oper, Dresden. In 1988 he conducted at La Scala in Milan in a revival of Jommelli's Fetonte, but then had to take a year off from conducting after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological condition. He appeared to recover and resumed conducting. He became chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne in 1991.
In the USA, he made his first guest appearance with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) in 1992. In January 1995, he was appointed the SLSO's music director, after Leonard Slatkin, and took up the position in 1996. In 2001, Vonk began to experience muscular weakness, which was not diagnosed to a specific ailment. In 2002, he resigned his position in St. Louis because of these health problems, which were later diagnosed as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a.k.a., Lou Gehrig disease).
For the 2003-2004 season, Vonk held the title of chief conductor of the ]Netherlands Radio Symphony (NRSO), the orchestra's last chief conductor before its disbandment. His illness had debilitated him to the point that he conducted several NRSO concerts from a wheelchair. On 29 August 2004, Vonk died in his Amsterdam home and is buried in that city under the epitaph (in English):
Music was his life.
Now it brings us
Solace and serenity.
The St. Louis Symphony dedicated a program of Hector Berlioz's Requiem to him after his death. He is survived by his widow, Jessie, who moved to Tasmania after her husband's death. In his memory she built the Hans Vonk Music House, in which, beginning in 2010, were held recitals of chamber music. Luuk Reurich wrote a biography of Vonk, Hans Vonk, Een dirigentenleven (Hans Vonk, A Conductor's Life), published in 2006.
His recordings are on the Chandos and Denon labels, among others, and include two CDs of the Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock. Vonk was regarded as a specialist in the music of Anton Bruckner.
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