EMMY VERHEY

Emmy Verhey

Emmy Verhey is among the Netherlands' most celebrated violinists. She has been playing as a soloist since 1966 and has a broad repertoire reaching from early to contemporary music. Verhey has performed in international concert halls with distinguished conductors such as Bernard Haitink and Leonard Bernstein, but has also worked ...
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Mentioned in the biography of

1942   Hans Vonk
1960   Géza Frid
1994   Valensia
2005   Rosanne Philippens
2011   Youp van 't Hek
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Biography Emmy Verhey

Emmy Verhey is among the Netherlands' most celebrated violinists. She has been playing as a soloist since 1966 and has a broad repertoire reaching from early to contemporary music. Verhey has performed in international concert halls with distinguished conductors such as Bernard Haitink and Leonard Bernstein, but has also worked with the pop singer Valensia and cabaret artist Freek de Jonge. She has her own music festival in Zaltbommel and is affiliated with the Camerata Antonio Lucio string ensemble. She teaches at the Utrecht Conservatory (Utrecht Academy of the Arts, Music Faculty). Verhey plays a Guarneri violin from 1676.

1956

Emmy Verhey (born March 13, 1949, in Amsterdam) begins taking violin lessons at age 7 and within a year plays two of Bach's violin concertos. At 8, she begins studying with Oskar Back.

1962 - 1966

Verhey gives her first public performance when she is 12 playing with the Frysk Orkest. Her second public performance is at the age of 13, playing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen. She subsequently studies with Herman Krebbers, Béla Dekany and Wolfgang Schneiderhan. She reaches the finals of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition, a feat that launches her international career.

1967 - 1971

Verhey wins first place at the Oskar Back Violin Competition in the Netherlands and this brings her the opportunity to study for a year with David Oistrakh. In 1971 she wins the Tromp Competition.

1977

She buys the “Earl Spencer” Stradivarius of 1723.

1980

Verhey performs with celebrated conductors and soloists, including Riccardo Chailly, Antal Dorati, Bernard Haitink, Anton Kersjes, Jean Fournet, Ed Spanjaard, Yehudi Menuhin, Igor Oistrakh, Mischa Maisky, Antonio Meneses, Youri Egorov, and Janos Starker. She makes multiple recordings for radio and television and plays on a number of CDs.

Anton Kersjes

1990

She changes violins, from her Stradivarius to a Guaneri made in 1676.

1991 - 1993

Together with Chris Duindam, Verhey starts the Camerata Antonio Lucio, a string orchestra comprising mostly former and current Utrecht Conservatory students. It is a small ensemble that performs, often internationally, without a conductor. Its repertoire covers three centuries and includes contemporary music. In 1993 Verhey works with the Dutch pop artist Valensia on his debut album of that name.

2006

Verhey lends her name to a classical music festival (Emmy Verhey Festival) that since 1997 has presented three days of free concerts annually in Zaltbommel. With Godfries Hoogeveen (violoncello) and Paul Komen (piano) she forms the Amédée Trio.

2009

Emmy Verhey is awarded the Zaltbommel Municipal Medal for her “extraordinary social merit”.

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