Valdemar Tofte

Lars Valdemar Tofte (21 October 1832 – 28 May 1907) was a Danish violinist who taught for a half century and trained over 300 of Denmark’s violinists. Biography Tofte was born on 21 October 1832 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to distiller Hans Larsen Tofte (1798–1857) and Mathilde Pedersen (1812–1867). The father, who loved music and was a good violinist, wanted his son to become a musician, particularly a violin virtuoso. To that end, he took Tofte at a young age to concerts to hear great artists like Miska Hauser, Hubert Léonard, and François Prume. He also found skilled teachers: first Carl T. Petersen, violinist in Hans Christian Lumbye’s orchestra, known for his beautiful bowing, and then of the Royal Danish Orchestra. In the fall of 1850, when the Music Society formed its own orchestra under the direction of Niels W. Gade, Tofte was one of its early violinists. Gade’s recommendation was for Tofte to study with the “violin king” Joseph Joachim in Hannover. Tofte followed the advice and went to study with Joachim from 1853 to 1856; occasionally he studied with Louis Spohr in Kassel. Career After his return, he made his debut in May 1856 with great acclaim in the Music Society Orchestr