Günter Pichler

Günter Pichler is best known as the founder and first violinist of the Alban Berg Quartet, the celebrated ensemble with whom he has performed widely and made numerous acclaimed recordings. From 1989, Pichler has appeared throughout Europe and Japan as a conductor, leading such groups as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Hallé Orchestra, and major orchestras in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, and Kanazawa. He has also served as leader in the Vienna Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, and has taught music at the Vienna Academy of Music. Pichler and the Alban Berg players have been especially praised for their interpretations of the quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bartók, Schoenberg, and for Berg's Lyric Suite and Op. 3 String Quartet. The group's recordings are available largely from EMI Classics and Teldec. Günter Pichler was born in Austria in 1940. From age 15, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music. Three years later he was taken on as leader of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and at 21 was appointed, at the behest of Karajan, to serve as leader with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1963, Pichler served as professor of violin at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1970 he founded his now-famous quartet, and following debut concerts in 1971, the players adopted the name Alban Berg Quartet at the suggestion of Berg's widow who had attended one of the first concerts. The ensemble soon became internationally celebrated, but Pichler eventually felt the need to branch out further. In January 1989 he debuted as a conductor with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and has since regularly guest-conducted numerous ensembles. Despite his busy conducting schedule, however, Pichler has remained active in the Alban Berg Quartet and still maintains his teaching post at the Vienna Academy of Music. Since 1993 he has also served as a guest professor at the Cologne University of Music. Pichler's Japan tours (1991; 1994; 1996) led to much further activity there: he debuted in 1999 as conductor with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa and was appointed principal guest conductor in 2001, serving until 2006. From 2006, he served as honorary artistic advisor to the OEK. Although much of Pichler's conducting activity in the new century has been based in Japan, he has also been quite active in Europe: his 2008-2009 schedule included appearances with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, and Orchestre National de Lille.