Jürgen Hinrich Hewers (17 March 1924 – 15 September 2017) was a German violinist and

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

Life

Born in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, Hewers took violin lessons from the age of 5 with his father August Hewers (concertmaster of the Königsberg Opera Orchestra and first violinist of the Königsberg String Quartet). Hewers attended the Wilhelms-Gymnasium of his home town. In 1940, he began studies with Max Strub in Berlin, which he continued with Gustav Havemann. In 1942, he made his debut with Paganini's Violin Concerto in D Major as soloist in a Königsberg Symphony Concert under the musical direction of . Subsequently, he also performed in other major cities of the German Empire (Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Dresden and Breslau) as well as in the East Prussian province. In the same year, he was called up for military service in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. Released for health reasons, he spent the end of the Second World War as in Ostseebad Rauschen. In 1945, he became 1st concertmaster at the as successor of Heinrich Schachtebeck. From 1946 to 1948, he was active in the

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen The Loh-Orchester Sondershausen is an orchestra from Sondershausen founded around 1600. It influenced Music in Germany in the 19th century by helping the music of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt to achieve a breakthrough. Since 1991, the Loh-Orch ...

. Afterwards, he became 1st concert master at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau. In 1951/52, he took over the post of Second 1st concertmaster at the

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus () is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The ...

orchestra Leipzig. During his Leipzig years, he also taught at the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest univ ...

. Afterwards, he was engaged as 1st concertmaster at the

Berliner Symphoniker The Berliner Symphoniker (''Berlin Symphony Orchestra'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. History The orchestra began its performing activity on 1 September 1967 as ''Symphonisches Orchester Berlin'', under the auspices of ...

in East Berlin. In 1957, he went to the Federal of Germany and worked with the

Niedersächsisches Symphonie-Orchester The Niedersächsische Symphonie-Orchester (original name:Niedersachsenorchester, later: Niedersächsisches Symphonie-Orchester) from Hanover (NSO) was founded in 1934. Chief conductor until 1938 was Fritz Lehmann. History At the beginning of ...

in Hanover as well as in Ulm and Braunschweig. From 1962 until his retirement, he was first concertmaster of the . Hewers was a member of the

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

''Leuchte im Norden'' in Flensburg. He died there at the age of 93.Death notice
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References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewers, Jurgen Hinrich German classical violinists Concertmasters German Freemasons 1924 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Königsberg

Life

Further reading

References

External links