Cellist Valter Dešpalj has Died, Aged 76

The Croatian cellist and pedagogue was an eminent soloist and chamber musician, as well as a much-loved pedagogue

Born in Zadar, Croatia in 1947, Valter Dešpalj was the first cellist in his musical family, with his father and two elder siblings all playing the violin. He studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School and also received chamber music coaching from Felix Galimir and members of the Juilliard Quartet.

After two years of further study at the Moscow Conservatory, Dešpalj embarked on a career as a soloist and chamber musician. He appeared with orchestras such as the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, and the Melbourne Symphony.

Dešpalj was also a highly influential pedagogue, and many of his students have had significant careers. For many years, he held professorships at the Zagreb Academy of Music and the Liechtenstein Academy of Music.

Dešpalj was invited to be a member of the jury at some of the world's most prestigious competitions, such as the Tchaikovsky, Bach, Lutoslawski, and ARD competitions.

He also edited and made transcriptions of cello music for major publishing houses — including a cello-guitar transcription of Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata for Ovation Press.

"It is with deep sadness I would like to announce that my dear professor Valter Dešpalj passed away this morning," wrote Luka Šulić of 2CELLOS. "I was his student at the Zagreb Academy of Music from age 15 to 19 and consider him the biggest and main influence on my growth as a cellist, musician and person in those crucial years, so important for development of a young professional musician."

"It’s impossible to put into words how much he has done for me and all of his many great students. His legacy is huge and lives on."

Our condolences to Mr. Dešpalj's family, friends, students, and colleagues.