György Pauk was born in Budapest on October 26, 1936, and studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy from the age of nine. A pupil of Imre Waldbauer in 1945, he was later taught by János Temesváry until 1949, then by Ede Zathureczky, and later by the composer Zoltán Kodály. In 1956, supported by Yehudi Menuhin, he left Hungary for the Netherlands, before settling in London in 1961. His solo career began, touring with the leading conductors of the day, including Colin Davis, Georg Solti, Gennady Rozhdestvenski, Lorin Maazel and Pierre Boulez, as well as recording works by Mozart, Bartók and Schubert for the Vox, Turnabout and Hungaroton labels, with his long-time friend the pianist Peter Frankl. The two also form a trio with cellist Ralph Kirshbaum. In 1982, György Pauk premiered Michael Tippett's Concerto for violin, viola and cello with Kirshbaum and Nobuko Imai, conducted by Colin Davis of the London Symphony Orchestra. Over the following years, the violinist collaborated with Maria Frank and János Sebestyén, Roger Vignoles, the Takács Quartet, Jenó Jandó and Kazuki Sawa. Appointed professor at London's Royal Academy of Music in 1987, he retired from the scene in 2007, having given numerous master classes at the Menuhin Music Academy and in the United States. In his last years, he gave online courses at the iClassical Academy. He died in his native Budapest on November 18, 2024, at the age of 88.
