'Peter en De Wolff'. Translation: "Well, Peter, let me now hear your self-created musical piece." Peter: "Fine, teacher. Isn't that fun? It's about the Efteling! Shall I play it again?" Editor's note: The Efteling is a children's theme park.
Frits van der Waa is a Dutch musicologist, who has worked as music journalist, editor and cartoonist on music-related subjects for Dutch print and broadcast media. He made one monthly gag comic, 'Peter en De Wolff' (1997-1999), published in Mens & Melodie magazine.
Early life
Born in Rotterdam in 1954, Van der Waa studied Musicology at the Utrecht University. He wrote theses about influences in 17th-century Flemish Baroque music and the relationship between visual storytelling and music, receiving his Master's degree in 1980. While still a student, he taught solfège - aural skills, pitch and sight-reading - at the Cantorate of the Utrecht University, and was a library assistant at the Institute of Musicology. Van der Waa plays piano and cello, and has been a singer in several choirs.
Music journalist and editor
Van der Waa's professional life has been fully devoted to music-related media. Between 1978 and 1984, he was the illustration editor of a ten-volume music encyclopedia collection by publisher De Haan. His reviews, interviews and other articles about music have appeared in the opinion magazine De Groene Amsterdammer (1982-1990) and newspaper De Volkskrant (1984-2021). Van der Waa was editor of the special interest magazines Key Notes (1994-1998), Vrije Geluiden (1999-2001) and OORsprong (2003), and a book translator for publishers like Het Spectrum, De Bezige Bij, Maven and Atlas Contact. As an editor and writer, Frits van der Waa was also involved in radio programs. He has additionally been a board member on several music organizations and committees.
"In the Realm of King Cable", a cartoon about the arbitrary broadcast policies which led to the cancellation of classical music channels.
Cartooning career
Besides writing and editing, Frits van der Waa has made cartoons, illustrations and comic strips about music. After contributing to several music magazines in the period 1978-1982, he returned to cartooning for specialized magazines in the 1990s. Between 1991 and 1994, his critical cartoons about music broadcast policies and governmental subsidies appeared in Tijdschrift voor Oude Muziek ("Magazine for Early Music").
Peter en De Wolff
For the monthly magazine Mens & Melodie, he made the comic strip 'Peter en De Wolff' (1997-1999), starring a little boy, Peter, and his piano teacher. The title is a reference to Sergei Prokofiev's musical fairy tale 'Peter and the Wolf'.
Family connections
Frits van der Waa is the brother of illustrator and cartoonist Marijn van der Waa.
