De Pasquale was a former associate principal second violin for the Philadelphia Orchestra and member of the De Pasquale Quartet with his brothers
The US violinist Robert de Pasquale died on 4 October in Bergen County, NJ, following complications from pneumonia. He was 96.
De Pasquale was born on 29 November 1928 in Philadelphia and raised in Germantown, where his violin teacher father, who wanted a family quartet, educated him and his siblings in string music.
De Pasquale graduated from Germantown High School and went on to study at the New School of Music in Philadelphia. He joined the Navy in 1951 where he played in the band until 1954.
He played briefly with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC and joined the New York Philharmonic in 1956, performing under music directors Dimitri Mitropoulos and Leonard Bernstein.
In 1964, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra where he played under renowned conductors Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Throughout his career, he performed with his siblings, William, Joseph and Francis, as the De Pasquale Quartet, realising their father’s ambition for a family quartet. The four brothers previously held roles in four separate orchestras, making quartet playing together scarce, but they were able to consolidate once Ormandy made the decision to appoint all four brothers to the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The quartet performed professionally for over 40 years and served as artists in residence at Haverford College and Villanova University.
De Pasquale travelled internationally with the orchestra during his tenure, which lasted until his retirement in 1997. After retiring, he became the principal teacher at the Academy of Community Music, which he co-founded with his wife, Ellen Fisher, in 1983.
He also taught at Haverford College and what would become the University of the Arts. He was a founding faculty member of Prysm Strings, which was the strings division of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute.
De Pasquale is predeceased by his four brothers and a sister. He is survived by his wife, daughter, granddaughter and other relatives.
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