David Lee Roth once called Eddie Van Halen “The King of Ten Fingers and Six Strings”. Well we think we’ve just found “The King of Ten Fingers and Four Strings”.
Check out the recent performance of Eddie’s “Eruption” by violinist Tjeerd Top in the video above.
Here is a brief bio on Tjeerd Top from his official website:
Born in 1978, Tjeerd Top studied with Qui van Woerdekom and Jaring Walta at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where he completed his bachelor’s degree with distinction in 2000. He obtained a master’s degree, again with distinction, at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam after having studied with Alexander Kerr for two years.
Top is a first prize winner of the Oskar Back Competition, He has given solo performances with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Holland Symfonia, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra and Camerata RCO.
He performs regularly with the Vermeer Trio on a variety of chamber music series. Together with pianist Mariana Izman, he was selected for the Debuut series and performed with harpist Lavinia Meijer on the Concertgebouw’s concert series showcasing young Dutch musicians (Jonge Nederlanders). As a result of this concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Top and Meijer were given the Fortis MeesPierson Award. Tjeerd was appointed associate concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2005, and is in high demand as guest concertmaster with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the WDR Sinfonie Orchester, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Swedish Radio, Radio France and the Philharmonia Orchestra (London).
Tjeerd Top plays a 1713 Stradivari, acquired with support of a private benefactor and provided to him in loan via RCO donors’ foundation Stichting Donateurs.