Paul ROCZEK （Artistic Director）
Born in Vienna, Paul Roczek studied with Franz Samohyl and Max Rostal. Master musicians like Sándor Végh and Ivry Gitlis were also among his teachers. Already during his studies he became a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (Vienna Philharmonic) and later of the famous chamber orchestra Die Wiener Solisten.
Apart from successes at numerous international competitions, he has also devoted himself to the performance and teaching of chamber music. In his 30 years of experiences as a performer, he founded the Österreichische Streichquartett and the string trio Anton Webern, and has worked with renowned musicians like Pablo Casals, Sándor Végh, Ivry Gitlis, Leister, Rampal, Engel, Schettler, Pichler, Berger, and Kontarsky.
Since he was 22, Prof. Paul Roczek has been a teacher at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. His students can be found in famous orchestras, recitals, chamber ensembles as well as teachers and professors in conservatories all over the world. He served for many times as a deputy chancellor of the University Mozarteum Salzburg and directed the International Summer Academy Mozarteum from 1991 to 2002.
He is a guest professor of a wide range of important music academies, e.g. the Menuhin Academy at Gstaad, the Music Academy of Melbourne in Australia, and of the China Conservatory, Beijing. He also teaches at the International Summer Academy in Salzburg and the Vienna Conservatory. At the requests of music academies around the world, he offered master classes in places like Moscow, Indiana, Philadelphia, Michigan, Dallas, Bowdoin, Brussels, Milan, Mannheim, Saarbrücken, Weimar, Munich, Prague, Tallinn, Vilnius, London, Paris, Kobe and Tokyo.
As President of the Austrian Youth Music Competitions, he has poured substantial attention to the development of young Austrian musicians. He has also been invited as president of the jury to the Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the Leopold Mozart Competition in Augsburg, and has worked on the panel of judges of a number of international violin competitions, e.g. the International Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna, the Georg Kulenkampff Competition in Cologne, the International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists in Weimar, the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians, and the Singapore International Violin Competition.
