WERNER HINK‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‎‏‏‎‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎1943 – 2024

It is with immense sadness that we have to inform you about the passing of PROF. WERNER HINK, our long-term violin tutor, audition jury member, head of strings, board member, friend and supporter of the GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENDORCHESTER and its musicians, after a long illness, in Vienna.

Werner Hink was born in Vienna in 1943 and studied first with Luise Bilek at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien. From 1962, he studied with the legendary Franz Samohyl at the Wiener Musikakademie.

In 1964, Werner Hink entered the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper, in 1965 he became member of the Vienna Philharmonic / Wiener Philharmoniker, where he was concertmaster from 1974 until his retirement in 2008. He played there with all great conductors of our time, from Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, and Carlos Kleiber to GMJO founder and Music Director Claudio Abbado, and many others.

Together with colleagues from the Vienna Philharmonic / Wiener Philharmoniker, he founded the Wiener Streichquartett, he lead the Wiener Oktett, and he also played Piano Trio with Jasminka Stancul and Friedrich Dolezal. Numerous recordings witness his great artistry as a chamber musician.

Since 1974, Werner Hink was a member of the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, and since 1982, he was Professor for Violin at the MUK – Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien.

In 2009, Werner Hink became the Violin Tutor of the GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENDORCHESTER, he was head of strings and audition jury member, he was a board member of the GMJO, and he thus had a key role in the development and the success of the GMJO for many years. Countless musicians were auditioned by him for and coached by him during GMJO projects, always with the utmost care and respect for each individual musician, always with a twinkle in the eye and yet fiercely devoted to the best result.

Werner Hink was a legend, and he was much loved by all who worked with him: all GMJO musicians, his students, his colleagues, all artists that worked with the GMJO and the Vienna Phil, his tutor colleagues, his board colleagues, and most warmly by all GMJO staff members past and present. Our thoughts are with his wife Heidi and with his family.