Violinist Werner Hink has Died, Age 81

Hink served as concertmaster for the Vienna Philharmonic

Born in Vienna, Austria, Wener Hink was a graduate of the Vienna Conservatory under Luise Bilek and the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts under Franz Samohyl.

In 1964, he joined the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. A year later, he got a job at the Vienna Philharmonic as a first violinist. In 1974, he became the latter's concertmaster, a role he kept until his retirement in October 2008. While there, he formed the Vienna String Quartet with members of the Vienna Philharmonic and made recordings for RCA and Camerata.

After serving on the Vienna Court Orchestra from 1974, he became a professor at the Vienna Conservatory in 1982 — succeeding his former teacher Samohyl.

Later in his career, from 1991 to 2010, he taught at the Pacific Music Festival (PMF) in Sapporo, Japan. He also served on the Jury of the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition.