VERY SAD NEWS | Staatskapelle Berlin Concertmaster Axel Wilczok Has Died [RIP]

German violinist and pedagogue Axel Wilczok has passed away from cancer - aged 66

German violinist and pedagogue Axel Wilczok has passed away from cancer - aged 66.

A graduate of Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, Mr Wilczok had served as concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Berlin since 1984.

He held a longterm teaching professorship at the Rostock University of Music and at the Barenboim-Said Akademie - and had served previously as a mentor to the members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

His famed students include violinist Michael Barenboim.

"We will miss Axel very much ... he was a universally popular colleague who was fully committed to the service of music and the art of the orchestra," Staatskapelle Berlin Music Director, Maestro Daniel Barenboim has said.

Our condolences are with Mr Wilczok's family, friends, colleagues and students.