Wilhelm Melcher

Wilhelm Melcher, born on April 5, 1940, in Hamburg, Germany, was a violinist who began his musical journey at age seven under the tutelage of his father. He studied with Erich Röhn from 1950 to 1961 and recorded two Mozart sonatas for Deutsche Grammophon in 1958. After earning a concert exam diploma with distinction in 1963, he served as first concertmaster of the Hamburger Symphoniker and the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn. In 1965, Melcher became the Primarius of the Melos Quartet, winning the International Geneva Music Competition in 1966 and the Villa-Lobos Competition in Rio de Janeiro in 1967. He was appointed as a professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart in 1980 and received the Bundesverdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. Melcher passed away on March 5, 2005.