Hans Vonk

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. read less