Roman Totenberg's Remarkable Life And Death (1 January 1911 – 8 May 2012)
My father, world-renowned virtuoso violinist and teacher Roman Totenberg, whose professional career spanned nine decades and four continents, died early Tuesday morning at the age of 101.
His death was as remarkable as his life. He made his debut as a soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic at age 11, performed his last concert when he was in his mid-90s, and was still teaching, literally, on his deathbed. This week, as word flew around the musical world that he was in renal failure, former students flocked to his home in Newton, Mass., to see the beloved "maestro."
He was a caring and wise father not just to us, his three daughters, but to literally thousands of students around the world who had studied with him. I dare say there is not a major orchestra in Europe or the U.S. that does not have at least one student who studied with him. When Wang, who is 40-something with a husband and two children of her own, left our house on Sunday, she said to my brother-in-law Ralph, "Now, I finally have to be a grown-up."
Washington Post: Violin teacher Totenberg dies in Mass. at 101
Wikipedia: Roman Totenberg
Video: BU celebrates Professor Emeritus of Music Roman Totenberg's 90th Birthday.