Haitink was born on 4 March 1929 in Amsterdam,[1] the son of Willem Haitink, a civil servant who later became director of the Amsterdam electricity board, and Anna Clara Verschaffelt who worked for Alliance française.[2] He studied the violin and conducting, with Felix Hupka,[3] who conducted the school's orchestra,[4] at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He then played the violin in orchestras before taking courses in conducting under Ferdinand Leitner in 1954 and 1955.[5]