Otto van Koppenhagen (January 19, 1895 – January 19, 1978) was a Dutch-born

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and teacher. Van Koppenhagen was born in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1921. He played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1928 to 1949 where he was principal cellist. In 1949 he moved to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, where he became professor of music at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. He continued to teach both private lessons and classes in the music department after his retirement in 1961, and after his wife died he actually lived in the Brown music building. He died in Providence in 1978.

External links

Van Koppenhagen, Otto
in ''

Encyclopedia Brunoniana ''Encyclopedia Brunoniana'' is an American reference work by Martha Mitchell covering Brown University. Published in 1993 by the Brown University Library, the encyclopedia has 629 pages. A digital version can be read free of charge on the Internet ...

'' * 1895 births 1978 deaths Dutch cellists Dutch educators Musicians from Arnhem Dutch emigrants to the United States 20th-century cellists {{Cellist-stub