Arthur Grumiaux

Classical violinist (born 1921 - died 1986).

Arthur Grumiaux was one of the greatest exponents ever of the Franco-Belgian school of violin playing. Born to a working-class family in Villers-Perwin, Belgium, in 1921, he was urged by his grandfather to study music and began his musical education at age four. By age eleven, he gained first prize in both violin and piano from the Charleroi Conservatory of Music and went on to study violin in Brussels with Alfred Dubois, who was a student of Eugène Ysaÿe. In 1939, he was awarded the Henri Vieuxtemps and François Prume prizes and was given, in 1940, the Prix de Virtuosité by the Belgian government. Grumiaux’ studies included substantial training in counterpoint and fugue, which he pursued — along with further violin studies — with the violinist George Enesco in Paris.