Swiss-Dutch violinust Marie Leonhardt, concertmaster of the Leonhardt Consort, founded in 1955 by her husband, the harpsichordist and organist Gustav Leondhart (who died in January 2012), passed away in Amsterdam.
Marie Leonhardt, whose maiden name was Amsler, was born on November 6, 1928 in Lausanne. She grew up in a musical family and was acquainted with August Wenzinger and Paul Sacher. She began studying violin with Michel Schwalbé (who became first violin of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert von Karajan) at the Geneva Conservatory, and then continued her training at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Walter Kägi. It was precisely in Basel that he met Gustav Leonhardt. She continued to study privately with Max Rostal in London before moving to Vienna, where she befriended Nikolaus and Alice Harnoncourt. She married Gustav Leonhardt in 1954.
In addition to being concertmaster of the Leonhardt Consort, Marie was also concertmaster of the ensemble Musica Antiqua Amsterdam (forerunner of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra), founded in 1969 by her husband’s former student, harpsichordist and organist Ton Koopman.
Later she began teaching and gave numerous master classes.
