Rick Stotijn en Olivier Thiery have been appointed principal subject teachers of double bass at Conservatorium van Amsterdam. As of September 2014, they will succeed Peter Stotijn (Rick Stotijn's  father). Sven Arne Tepl, Head of the Classical Department: 'We are very happy to have two such prominent artists join our string section. As guest teachers they have already made a huge contribution to our study programme.'

Rick Stotijn (1982), winner of the 'Nederlandse Muziekprijs',  the highest award for young talented musicians in the Netherlands, played with various orchestras, such as Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The performed with musicians such as Janine Jansen, Gidon Kremer and Liza Ferschtman. At the moment he is principal double bass player with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin. His first CD, with music by Bottesini, was widely acclaimed. This week his new CD Basso Bailando will be released.

Olivier Thiery (1983) studied in Toulon, Cannes and at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany. He played witrh various European orchestras, such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Bayerischen Rundfunk and the Münchener Kammerorchester. In 2008 he joined the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Thiery performed with Alexei Ogrintchouk, Gidon Kremer, Emmanuel Pahud, Andras Schiff and many others. In september 2013 he joined the teaching staff at the Folkwang Hochschule as assistant to Niek de Groot.