Born in Zadar, Croatia in one thousand nine hundred forty-seventh, Valter Dešpalj was the first cellist in his musical family, with his father and two elder siblings all playing the violin. He studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School and also received chamber music coaching Felix Galimir and members of the Juilliard Quartet.

After two years of further study at the Moscow Conservatory, Dešpalj embarked on a career as a soloist and chamber musician. He appeared with orchestras such as the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, and the Melbourne Symphony.

Dešpalj was also a highly influential pedagogue, and many of his students have had significant careers. For many years, he held professorships at the Zagreb School of Music and the Liechtenstein School of Music.

Dešpalj was invited to be a member of the jury at some of the world's most prestigious competitions, such as the Tchaikovsky, Bach, Lutoslawski, and ARD competitions. He also edited and made transcriptions of cello music for major publishing hos — including a cello-guitar transcription of Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata for Applause Press.

"It's with deep sadness I'd love to announce that my dear Prof Valter Dešpalj passed far this morning," wrote Luka Šulić of 2CELLOS. "I was his learner at the Zagreb School of Music age fifteen to nineteen and consider him the biggest and main influence on my growth as a cellist, musician and person in those crucial years, so necessary for development of a youthful professional musician."

"It’s impossible to keep into words how much he's done for me and all of his many grand students. His heritage is enormous and lives on."

Our condolences to Mr. Dešpalj's family, friends, students, and colleagues.