The “Grand Master” of the violin, Hetem Qerimaj, has passed away at the age of 88. The news was announced by his son, Fatos Qerimaj, in a post on Facebook.

Hetem Qerimaj was born on October 16, 1934, in Këlcyre. He took his first lessons in his hometown and it was his father, who played the mandolin, who instilled in him the desire to study music. In 1949 he moved to Tirana. His talent showed interest to the authorities who gave him the opportunity to study the violin.

After his studies, he started working as a violinist in the symphony orchestra of the capital. From 1949 to 1963 he worked as a violinist in the Albanian Philharmonic and the Opera Theatre. In 1963 – 1990 he worked as a soloist and as a conductor of the symphony orchestra of the Army Ensemble until he retired. During this time he was active as a solo violinist performing several concerts in all the cities of Albania from the south to the north.

Hetem Qerimaj, violin virtuoso master, created the first kaba on the violin at the age of 22 and performed it in public. He has played the violin all his life, while on his 85th birthday he held a concert entitled “The Arch of Triumph of Qerimaj” in the Amphitheater of the Lake, together with other generations of artists from the same family. His participation in small artistic formations has been evident and important. There is a significant number of concerts performed abroad, in about 40 countries around the world.

Artistic creativity and dedication to processing traditional music has been his intensive ongoing work. From 1970-2008 he created several Kaba for violin.

He was awarded the title “Naim Frashëri” of Class III, “Merited Artist”, “Honorary Citizen of Këlcyra”, “Grand Master” received in 2005 as well as many other titles and awards.

For 18 years, the “Grand Master” worked as a violinist at the Albanian Philharmonic. He performed all the rest of his activities with the Army Ensemble Orchestra, with whom he also retired after 34 years of artistic work. He raised a dinasty of artists 

/a.p/