Ronald Masin

Ronald Masin
Born	Ronald Rudolf Masin (1937-08-09)9 August 1937 Rotterdam, Netherlands
Died	5 November 2025(2025-11-05) (aged 88) Dublin, Ireland
Occupations	Violinist, concertmaster, music educator
Spouse	Maria Kelemen (m. 1962)
Children	2, including Gwendolyn Masin

Ronald Rudolf Masin (9 August 1937 – 5 November 2025) was a Dutch violinist, concertmaster, chamber musician, and music educator whose career spanned more than six decades across the Netherlands, South Africa, and Ireland. He served as concertmaster of the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (now the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra) from 1963 to 1984, co-founded the Amsterdam Kern Ensemble, and spent nearly thirty years as a professor at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin. He was also the founder of the Music Instrument Fund of Ireland (MIFI) in 1995, Ireland's only charity dedicated to providing professional-quality instruments to promising young string players.

Early life and education

Masin was born on 9 August 1937 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to parents of Czech-Dutch descent. He began violin studies at the age of five at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory during the Second World War, continuing through the period of heavy bombardment of the city. Following the war, his family relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he lived from the age of nine to eighteen.

To pursue advanced professional training, Masin returned to Europe and enrolled at the Royal Music Conservatory in Brussels, where he studied under the Hungarian violinist and pedagogue André Gertler, a central figure in the Hungarian school of violin playing. Masin described Gertler as a "great inspiration" throughout his life. In 1962, he graduated with violin and chamber music diplomas with the highest distinction. During his studies in Brussels he met the Hungarian violinist and violist Maria Kelemen, who was studying there on a Ford Scholarship; they married in Brussels in 1962. Masin played a Carlo Tononi instrument, built in Venice in 1728.

Career

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra

In 1963, at the age of twenty-five, Masin was appointed concertmaster of the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, known today as the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held for over two decades until 1984. During his tenure he worked alongside many of the most prominent musicians of the era, including Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Henryk Szeryng, Sviatoslav Richter, Bella Davidovich, Ida Haendel, Herbert Blomstedt, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Kirill Kondrashin and Yevgeny Svetlanov. His bowings and musical markings continued to be used by orchestral ensembles in the Netherlands after his departure.

His tenure coincided with that of his wife, Maria Kelemen, who served as co-principal violist of the same orchestra from the early 1960s until 1984.

Amsterdam Kern Ensemble

In 1966, Masin and Kelemen co-founded the Amsterdam Kern Ensemble, a piano quartet comprising Masin (violin), Kelemen (viola), Bob Reuling (cello) and Rinus Groot (piano). During its active years the ensemble performed over 600 concerts across 22 countries, touring Europe, the Americas, South Africa and Russia. The Kern Ensemble held a recording contract with EMI and was noted for commissioning and premiering works by contemporary composers.

Publications

In 1982, Masin and Kelemen co-authored the pedagogical treatise Violin Technique: The Natural Way, published by Frits Knuf in Buren, the Netherlands. Dedicated to their teacher André Gertler, the book presents a comparative study of violin schools with particular focus on the Belgo-Hungarian approach and includes a thorough analysis of Kreutzer's 42 Studies, emphasising biomechanically informed methods to avoid physical strain. The book carried a preface by Henryk Szeryng and was warmly endorsed by Zino Francescatti.

Academic career in South Africa

In 1984, Masin was appointed as an Associate Professor and Head of the Strings Department at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, a position he held until the family's departure in 1988.

Dublin Institute of Technology

Following the family's relocation to Dublin in 1987–88, Masin was appointed as a Senior Lecturer and subsequently Professor at the Conservatory of Music and Drama at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, now TU Dublin Conservatoire). He taught there for nearly thirty years until his official retirement at the age of 65 in 2002.

Young European Strings School of Music

Following his retirement from DIT, Masin joined the Young European Strings School of Music, the institution founded by Maria Kelemen, as artistic director and principal conductor of the YES Chamber Orchestra (YESCO). He remained in the role until his death in 2025. Masin continued to teach a full schedule and maintain a demanding performing repertoire — including Béla Bartók's Solo Sonata and the Brahms Violin Concerto — until the day he was hospitalised.

Music Instrument Fund of Ireland

In May 1995, Masin founded the Music Instrument Fund of Ireland (MIFI), a registered charity established to make professional-quality string instruments available to promising young Irish musicians. The fund's first patron was Yehudi Menuhin, who supported the initiative until his death in 1999. The patronage was passed on to Michael D. Higgins thereafter. By 2025 — the fund's thirtieth anniversary — MIFI's catalogue of sixteen instruments had benefited 91 young musicians, of whom 84 per cent went on to professional careers. Masin also served as the inaugural chairman of the European String Teachers Association (ESTA) in Ireland.

Legacy

Over the course of his career, Masin was credited with inspiring five generations of string players. Many of his students went on to secure positions in leading orchestras worldwide and pursue international solo and chamber music careers. Notable alumni from his time at DIT and YES include violinists Catherine Leonard, Gwendolyn Masin, Gina Maria McGuinness, David O'Doherty and David Tobin (guest concertmaster with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Heidelberg Sinfoniker, among others).

Personal life

Ronald Masin married violinist and violist Maria Kelemen in Brussels in 1962. They had two children: Patrick and Gwendolyn Masin, an internationally renowned concert violinist, author and educator. Ronald Masin died on 5 November 2025 in Dublin, following a short but intense illness. He is survived by his wife, his two children and their partners, and six grandchildren: Thijmen, Pien, Welmoed, Chiem, Ysaÿe and Seraphin.

See also

• Maria Kelemen
• Gwendolyn Masin
• Young European Strings School of Music
• Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
• André Gertler
• Hungarian school of violin playing
• Music Instrument Fund of Ireland

External links

• Ronald Masin – Biography
• Music Instrument Fund of Ireland
• Obituary: Ronald Masin (1937–2025) – The Strad
• Violinist Ronald Masin has Died, Aged 88 – The Violin Channel