Ruña ‘t Hart - violin

The versatile violinist Ruña ’t Hart (1992) impresses with her solistic qualities and as advocate of chamber music. Her musical interests are broad, covering domains from baroque to contemporary music.

In December 2016 she received the prestigious violin scholarship from the Kersjes Fonds in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. This is a notable scholarship that is awarded each year to a young violin talent. In their jury report, the Kersjes Fonds stipulates Ruña’s “glowing, intense playing with a personal story” and calls her “a (growing) diamond that glows from the inside and shines with musicality.”

Ruña started playing the violin when she was two years old. At the age of ten she started lessons with the well-known violin teacher Coosje Wijzenbeek and a year later Ruña was accepted at the School for Young Talent at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague.

For many years Ruña played in the Fancy Fiddlers, a string ensemble led by Coosje Wijzenbeek. In her last few years in the ensemble Ruña was lead violin. As member of the Fancy Fiddlers Ruña had the opportunity to work together with well-known musicians, such as Janine Jansen and Menahem Pressler and got the chance to play in famous concert halls such as the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Since September 2011 Ruña has been studying at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Vera Beths. Because Ruña also has an interest for the historical performance practice, she takes lessons with Shunske Sato as well, on both modern and baroque violin.

Ruña has taken master classes with, amongst others, Ray Chen, Philippe Graffin, Stephan Picard, Ulf Wallin, Clive Brown and Anner Bijlsma.

Ruña has a great passion for chamber music; she plays concerts in various formations, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Ruña has been invited to give concerts at various festivals, including Het Kamermuziekfestival Utrecht, the festival Next Generation in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, Het Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, and the Internationale Fredener Musiktage in Freden, Germany.

In September 2018 Ruña started her own chamber music series in the Engelse Kerk, located in the Begijnhof, Amsterdam. The programming will be made up out of various ensembles, playing not only music from previous centuries, but also music written by contemporary composers.

Ruña plays on a violin from the eighteenth-century Italian builder Landolfi with a bow from the nineteenth-century French builder Bazin. She was able to purchase the violin and bow with the help of Stichting Eigen Muziekinstrument, het Dorrie Stoop Fonds and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.