I was merely 15 years old when I left my little hometown of Kufstein in the tyrolean Alps to pursue my dream of becoming a musician, studying in the music Mecca Vienna. Having been raised in the mountainous part of Austria, I felt that I had lots of catching up to do and therefore attended concerts or the opera pretty much every evening. Early on, I developed a deep appreciation and love for chamber music and quickly acquired season tickets for, what at the time were the two Viennese string quartets (the Konzerthaus-Quartet and the Musikverein-Quartet) as well the concert series for the international string quartets performing in Vienna. While I fundamentally appreciated the Viennese Quartets of that time (both of which consisted of members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra), it became obvious to me quickly, that the international Quartets (such as the Amadeus, Julliard, Quartetto Italiano, La Salle, Hungarian, Smetana Quartet and others) performed at a superior level as they solely focused their careers on chamber music. It is of interest that, with only one exception, Vienna never had a string quartet that exclusively devoted itself to playing string quartet. My fascination and love for the literature of string quartet grew steadily and I finally decided to found a string quartet that would exclusively focus on quartet literature. Vienna, the cradle of chamber music, should become home to a new Viennese string quartet of the highest quality and with international acclaim.

As my professional life as concertmaster of the two great Viennese orchestras, the Vienna Symphony and the Vienna Philharmonic, came to an end, I began to concentrate on solo and chamber music literature. I had played in a duo with the pianist Heinz Medjimorec (who became the pianist of the Haydn Trio and afterwards one of the most notable piano teachers at our university) for over ten years. Furthermore, I played a wide range of solo concerts (with Michael Gielen and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra among others) and was concertmaster of a chamber orchestra called the Vienna Soloists. With this orchestra I travelled around the world and made many recordings. During this time I gained valuable experience as a musician and became familiar with leading personalities in the management and recording industries, something which would later be of great use in building the career of the Alban Berg Quartet.

At the age of thirty, my dream came true and I was able to found a quartet. During a year of intensive preparation we met Walter Levin of the La Salle Quartet and members of the Amadeus Quartet whose guidance and suggestions were invaluable. Soon after, we made our debut in the Vienna Konzerthaus. The title of our first review in the Viennese press read: 'A wonder named Alban Berg Quartet.' That was the beginning of a dreamlike career. For almost forty years, from 1970 to 2008, the Alban Berg Quartet was, alongside my teaching commitments, the focus of my career and the artistic fulfilment of my life.