Werner Scholz (7 July 1926 – 1 October 2012) was a German violinist and director of a

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

for violin.

Career

Scholz studied in his native city of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

with Adrian Rappoldi. From 1948 to 1951, he was

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

Dresden Philharmonic The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the ''Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and the ...

. From 1951, he was assistant and successor of

Gustav Havemann Gustav Havemann (15 March 1882 – 2 January 1960) was a German violinist and from 1933 to 1935 head of the "Reichsmusikerschaft" in the Reichsmusikkammer. Life Born in Güstrow, Havemann first learned to play the violin from his father, the mil ...

in Cottbus and from 1953 in Berlin. In 1961, he was appointed professor for violin at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

. From 1974, he led a master class for violin with outstanding teaching success. In November 1975, he was elected a member of the presidium of the

Union of Art The Union of Art (german: Gewerkschaft Kunst) was a trade union representing art, media and heritage workers in East Germany. The union was founded in 1949, when the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB) reorganised. The Union of Art and Liter ...

board of directors.

Musical performances

For 18 years, from 1956 to 1974, Scholz served as 1st concertmaster of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. At the same time, he gave concerts as soloist in important music centres of Europe. Through him, numerous works were

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

d. He also made recordings for radio and television. He was founder and director of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

of the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin. He has played in chamber music associations with

Dieter Zechlin Dieter Zechlin (30 October 1926 – 16 March 2012) was a German pianist. He was one of East Germany's most prominent pianists throughout the 1950-80s. In 1959 he received the Art Prize of the GDR and in 1961 the National Prize of the GDR. Ze ...

and others (piano), Jürgen Schröder,

Alfred Lipka Alfred Lipka (1931 – 12 July 2010) was a German violist. Life Born in Schreckenstein near Aussig, Lipka studied violin and viola in Erfurt and at the conservatories of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar and the University of Mus ...

, (alto) and Anton Spieler (cello). He played a decisive role in the development of the international festival of the arts in Hohenloheinternational festival of the arts in Hohenlohe
/ref> and in the Sophie Charlotte Violin Prize of the Association of the Schlossinsel (Mirow). Scholz died in Berlin at the age of 86.

Students

19 of his students are first

s, e.g. with the

Staatskapelle Berlin The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was ''Kön ...

, the

Dresden Staatskapelle The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

, the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra; in Chemnitz, Rostock, Aachen, and Würzburg among others. 17 of his students also became professors: * Vienna: Lothar Strauß * Berlin: Walter-Karl Zeller,

Antje Weithaas Antje Weithaas (born 1966) is a German classical violinist. Apart from solo recitals and chamber music performances, she has played with leading orchestras in Europe, Asia and the United States. Career Born in Guben, Weithaas studied at the H ...

, Wolf-Dieter Batzdorf, Michael Erxleben, Joachim Scholz, Axel Wilczok, Kathinka Rebling, Eberhard Feltz * Dresden: Peter Mirring, * Weimar: Matthias Wollong * Bremen:

Katrin Scholz Katrin Scholz (born 13 March 1969) is a German classical violinist. Life Born in Kleinmachnow, Scholz visited the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. After finishing school she studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" with Werner Scholz an ...

* Rostock: Sylvio Krause * Aachen: Skerdjano Keraj * US: Felix Olschofka, David Yonan * Great-Britain: Ulla Benz His students won a total of 102 prizes in international competitions, e.g. Rachel Barton, Wolf-Dieter Batzdorf, Thomas Böttcher, Michael Erxleben, Sabine Gabbe, Angela Jaffé, Peter Mirring, Conrad Muck, Marta Murvai, Song Qiang, Thorsten Rosenbusch, Joachim Scholz, Katrin Scholz, Ilja Sekler, Lothar Strauß, Petra Schwieger, Kai Vogler, Antje Weithaas, Iskandar Widjaja, Matthias Wollong, David Yonan (Chicago, US).

Awards

* 1980

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in Bronze * 1986 Ehrentitel * 1989

National Prize of the German Democratic Republic The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...

IIIrd Class for Art and Literatur

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scholz, Werner German classical violinists Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze 1926 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Dresden East German musicians