It is with great sadness that we have to inform you that Sándor Devich has passed away. Not only was he a Kossuth Award-winning violinist and a founding member of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, he was section leader and one of the defining musicians of the orchestra’s first decade. Sándor Devich was an outstanding figure in Hungarian classical music. He not only achieved fame in Hungary and abroad as a musician, but he also taught at the Academy of Music, publishing numerous articles and several books. He was made a full Professor in 1991, before becoming a Professor Emeritus and Deputy Rector of the Academy of Music, where he was Head of the Chamber Music Department. He taught masterclasses and was invited to teach as a guest in many countries. In appreciation of his art, he won not only the Kossuth Award but he also received the Franz Liszt Award, the title of Outstanding Artist, the UNESCO Award and the Bartók-Pásztory Award. In 2005 he was decorated with the Hungarian Order of Merit’s Officer Cross for ‘his internationally-acclaimed performances and work as an art teacher spanning several decades’. In 2006 he received the Leó Weiner Award. We would like to express our sincere condolences to his family and friends. Iván Fischer, the BFO’s members and colleagues will treasure and respect his memory.